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Swiss low-tax policy irks EU
The row was triggered by the decision, late last year, of the French rock star Johnny Hallyday to leave France and take up residence in the Swiss Alpine resort of Gstaad.

Hallyday, who has complained publicly about the high taxes in France, will now pay tax not on his multi-million-dollar income, but on the value of the fairly modest chalet he has built himself in Gstaad.

All he has to do in return is promise to live in the chalet for at least six months of each year.

In France, where Hallyday is a national icon, there is anger. Advisers to the French presidential candidate Segolene Royal have accused Switzerland of "looting" its neighbours.

Many high-earning celebrities, among them Charles Aznavour, Michael Schumacher and Tina Turner already live in Switzerland for tax reasons, and it is rumoured that the British pop star James Blunt will be the next to arrive. ...