A guiding aim of family businesses is to transfer the company in good condition to the next generation and to protect it from long-term damage. Moreover, a sparing use of natural resources is in their own interests. This is why sustainable business practices in general and environmental and climate protection in particular are self-evident for family businesses.
The economic impact of punitive US tariffs is increasingly felt in Germany. Tariffs imposed in 2019 due to Airbus subsidies have led to a 40 per cent decline in exports by the affected sectors outside the aircraft industry. This is the result of a study carried out by Professor Gabriel Felbermayr, PhD, Head of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, on behalf of the Foundation for Family Businesses.
The Advisory Board of the Foundation for Family Businesses cautions against weighing down economic, financial market and competition policy with environmental policy objectives. “Protecting the climate is the greatest challenge facing our generation; however, orienting all economic policy areas towards environmental objectives does not make sense”, concludes the board.
The most important tools in fighting tax evasion are the exchange of data among the relevant tax authorities (country-by-country reporting or CbCR), a method already in practice, and the international coordination of transfer prices. This is one of the conclusions drawn by a study commissioned by the Foundation for Family Businesses and conducted by the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW).
