Dr. Onno Ruding, a former Dutch Finance Minister, former Citicorp Bank Vice-Chairman in New York and Citicorp representative in Brussels, will be the Chairman of the Fund.

As part of this corporate-university funding agreement, the PricewaterhouseCoopers International and European Tax Chair has been created to which an eminent visiting professor will be appointed each year. For the academic year of 2007/2008, Prof. Graeme Cooper from the University of Sydney has been appointed to this Chair.

The academic activities of the Fund will take place in the context of the EUCOTAX Programme (European Universities Cooperating on Taxes) and the advanced Master of Law Programme in European and International Taxation of the European Tax College (ETC), an inter-university cooperation between the universities of Tilburg and Leuven. The Fund totals € 500,000 and will be made available by PricewaterhouseCoopers for five years, starting September 2007.

The EUCOTAX programme brings together students and researchers from the universities of Barcelona, Budapest, Leuven, London, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Tilburg, Osnabrück, Vienna and Washington. Its aim is to stimulate instruction in, and research on, European aspects of tax law and promote joint scientific publications by the researchers. The PricewaterhouseCoopers Fund will also support the EUCOTAX Winter Course and provide the principal sponsorship of the ETC Moot Court Competition.

From left to right: Prof. De Broe (K.U.Leuven) Prof. Abraham (K.U.Leuven), Prof. Eijlander (Tilburg University), De Soeten (PwC), Prof. Brandsma (PwC), Prof. Kemmeren (Tilburg University), Prof Essers (Tilburg University)