EC sees ‘no need to be negative’

Friday 7th July 2006, 12:00AM BST.

THE European Commission as a whole has no reason to be negative about Jersey as a finance centre, an EC spokesman said yesterday.

Gerben Everts, director general of the EC’s internal market financial services policy, based in Brussels, said the organisation was currently ‘very open’ in its attitude towards the Island and its finance industry.

Asked during a seminar what was the EC’s perception of Jersey, Mr Everts said: ‘At the moment the view of the Commission as a whole is that you should let market forces rule and promote competition, and not stifle innovation and if there are elements which offshore centres like Jersey have – high innovation, low tax, good people, products like hedge funds – we do not see any need to be negative.

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