The grand duchy wants a “level playing field” when it comes to multinational taxation, Pierre Gremegna also stated in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.

Gramegna began by telling the financial channel that the European economies are back on track:

“…since last year, we’ve seen a 2% growth average in almost every countr[y], 4% in Luxembourg since three years, so, Europe is back. Maybe the most important thing is, investment is starting to grow. And what does it tell us? It tells us that confidence is back.”

Asked if Europe, with the US following Donald Trump’s “America First” policy, could realistically become the global champion for free trade, Gramegna stated:

“Well, I think everybody needs to be credible in this field. You cannot do cherry-picking in a global market, I think that is key. Everybody loves investment from abroad, and doesn’t like investment outward. Well, the world is such that you need to have both, and there are countries like mine, Luxembourg, I would say, Benelux, a few countries, and the United Kingdom, that have had that tradition for a long time. Let’s not build walls, neither around European Union, neither around other markets, because it will be to the benefit of all.”

Source: CNBC

The CNBC journalists then asked about the current “techlash” against giant American technology firms, seeking Gremegna’s view on the push in Europe to tax firms where they generate their profits instead of in lower tax jurisdictions such as Luxembourg and Ireland. The DP finance minister answered:

“What Luxembourg is asking for is a level playing field. So, what we should avoid is having national decisions in how we tax these tech firms. Let’s do it in a harmonised manner. The OECD is coming out in three months with a report [on] how to tax e-companies, how to tax these fintech companies, and we should have a solution that is at least OECD-wide, because then we have the level playing field, and we avoid distortion. And so, Luxembourg is in favour of having a harmonised tax, because it is obvious that many of these companies pay very little taxes, or no taxes, and this is shocking to many people, so we have to find a global solution.”

The interview then shifted to Brexit, and Gramegna was reminded about his previous comments that now was not a time to “punish” the UK and that restrictions on British financial services would be bad for Europe. A CNBC presenter asked: “Is anybody actually listening, on the EU negotiating side?” Gramegna replied:

“I agree with you, there are many people out there who are trying to punish the United Kingdom without saying it. If you ask them, they will deny it. Let’s try to be more positive, let’s try to de-dramatise the whole negotiation.”

He also stated:

“Let’s not have London drift in to the Atlantic. And let’s make sure that we have a working relationship with London, all European financial centres, because it’s to the whole benefit of Europe. There are specialties in London that nobody else can do, so let’s work together.”