The 1989 cult movie “Back to the Future II” predicted that the year 2015 would bring with it a world of hover-boards, flying cars and self-lacing trainers, writes Carsten Bruhn, Executive Vice President, Commercial at Ricoh Europe. While few of the flashy gadgets foreseen by the film’s creators have come into existence, 1989 proved a landmark year […]
Hills Says Pension Funds Could Get Two Year Clearing Exemption
The European Commission has published a report recommending granting pension funds a two-year exemption from central clearing requirements for their over-the-counter (OTC) derivative transactions. The report, which is based on an extensive study requested by the European Commission, concludes that central counterparties (CCPs) need this time to find solutions for pension funds. At the same time, […]
Vestager Opens Belgian State Aid Investigation
European Commission Competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, has opened another State aid investigation into the deals that EU tax authorities offer to certain companies – most notably to multinational corporations – that may go against EU state aid rules. This investigation will look into a system of tax exemptions offered by the Belgian tax administration through so-called […]
‘Invest for Growth’ vs ‘More Structural Reform’ – New Tune?
As parliamentarians across the EU discussed economic governance in the EP this week, French socialist Ms Pervenche Berès, responsible for an EP report evaluating the EU’s economic governance framework, and EP vice president, Finnish liberal Olli Rehn, said they believe in a mixture of structural reforms and investment to help boost the economy. “The euro area […]
EBX Q&A – With Peter McCann, General Manager of The Merrion Hotel, Dublin
Sarah-Jayne Smith speaks with Peter McCann, General Manager of The Merrion Hotel, Dublin EBX: What motivates you most – in practical terms, and in emotional terms? PMcC: Emotionally, it’s the people that who work in the hotel. You can be having a bad day and meet someone who puts you in a good mood. We […]
Paris Roadmap Gets Its Bearings With Cañete
The roadmap to the 21st UN climate conference, in Paris (France) in December, was debated by MEPs, the Latvian Presidency and Commissioner Arias Cañete on Wednesday. The conference of parties (COP21) to the UN Convention on Climate Change aims to deliver a worldwide climate agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol. During the debate, MEPs emphasized […]
“EU At Constant Risk Of Energy Supply Disruption”
The EU is at constant risk of energy supply disruption. Too much energy is wasted and 10% of households in the Union cannot afford proper heating, the Commission vice-president for energy union told Parliament’s energy and environment committees this week. Maroš Šefčovič was presenting his vision for an energy union to tackle these and other […]
“Solidarity should not replace necessary decisions,” – Schäuble
EU solidarity should not replace decisions that must be taken in countries suffering economic difficulties, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble told Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs in Tuesday’s special debate on the review of the economic governance framework. His Italian colleague Pier Carlo Paduan, vehemently rejected criticism of measures to bring down Italy’s deficit […]
Buttarelli Says: “Make data protection rights more effective”
Speaking in a Q&A session, Giovanni Buttarelli, the new European Data Protection Supervisor said: “The EU has to make existing data protection rights more effective in practice, and to allow citizens to more easily exercise their rights at a time when we all run our entire lives with our smartphones” Over the coming five years […]
TTIP’s Cross-Atlantic Endeavour Facing High Seas
EU-US negotiations on the TTIP free trade agreement are continuing. The deal which is expected to create new jobs and boost economies on both sides of the Atlantic touches upon sensitive issues, not least rules for the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). On 27 January the international trade and legal affairs committees held a joint public […]