About us

The Institute for Research in Economic and Fiscal Issues was founded in 2002 by representatives of the civil society coming from the academic and business world and willing to establish an efficient platform to investigate fiscal and taxation questions. As a matter of fact, taxation may be considered as a many-faceted issue and existing studies are mostly incomplete if not biased. The need to explore systematically and completely the question was obvious to IREF’s founding members. It can be asserted that this need has also an emergency aspect. Tax studies can no longer ignore the globalisation process and the consequences of this evolution on the magnitude of tax competition.

Tax authorities are currently under the strain of two opposite forces: centralisation and harmonization on one hand, devolution and competition and globalization on the other hand. Eager to cross knowledge from economics, statistics, law studies and politics, IREF seeks to create a starting place for thoughts and proposals about taxation policy. In order to achieve its goals, IREF is editing books, reports and academic studies on topics related to taxation. IREF’s experts are covering the European current events related to taxation and economic policy and you can find every week on our website their comments and analysis. We are also editing a bi-weekly French language newsletter.

Board of Trustees

Thierry AFSCHRIFT – Lawyer, Afschrift Law Firm, Brussels.

Deputy adviser to the Brussels Court of Appeal, Professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Specialist in tax law, including international tax, financial criminal law, mergers and acquisitions and financial instruments and products.

Enrico COLOMBATTO - Professor of Economics, School of Economics, University of Turin, Director of the International Centre for Economic Research (ICER), Turin.

Victoria CURZON-PRICE – Professor of economics at the University of Geneva, former Députée at the Grand Conseil de Genève, former President of the Mont Pelerin Society 

Jean-Philippe DELSOL - Lawyer, Delsol avocats, Lyon.

Jacques GARELLO – Professor of economics at the University of Aix-Marseille III, founder of the Aix-en-Provence Summer University and President of ALEPS (Association pour la liberté économique et le progress social).

Michael von LIECHTENSTEIN - President of Industrie und Finanzkontor.

Serge TABERY – Lawyer, Tabery & Wauthier, Luxembourg 

Jiri SCHWARZ – Professor of economics at the University of Prague, Dean of the Department of Economics and Public Administration.

Pierre Garello - Professor of economics at the University of Aix-Marseille, France. Director of the Institute for Economic Studies and editor-in-chief of Journal des économistes et des études humaines.