Cordially invited to the round table on the pension system changes , on the 30 September 2016, at 18.00 hours in City Hotel, Ljubljana, by the MEP Romana Tomc with the cooperation of the Institute dr. Jože Pučnik. More info at : andreja.pintar@romanatomc.si
The 15th round of EU-US negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement will take place in New York City, from 3 to 7 October. The aim of this round is to make as much progress as possible in all areas of the talks, in particular in the regulatory cooperation and rules areas. [...]
Customs authorities across the EU seized an estimated five million more counterfeit items in 2015 than the previous year, according to new figures released today by the European Commission. This means that the number of intercepted goods grew by 15% compared to 2014. More than 40 million products suspected of violating an intellectual property right [...]
The Commission has fined Altstoff Recycling Austria (ARA) €6 million for blocking competitors from entering the Austrian market for management of household packaging waste from 2008 to 2012, in breach of EU antitrust rules. The fine was reduced by 30% due to ARA’s cooperation with the Commission. The Commission found that the nationwide collection infrastructure, [...]
Today the 20 september 2016, the UN General Assembly Ministerial Week officially kicks off, again with high-level EU participation. On Monday, at the UN Summit on large movements of refugees and migrants in New York City, the European Union highlighted its strong engagement in managing the global migration challenge. Specific angles of responsibility sharing were [...]
On Wednesday 14 September 2016 at 9 am, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will deliver his State of the Union address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The speech will be followed by a plenary debate. The State of the Union address traditionally kick-starts the dialogue with Parliament and Council, as foreseen [...]
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the European Council President Donald Tusk represented the EU at the 11th G20 leaders’ summit, which took place on 4 and 5 September in Hangzhou, China. The communiqué at he end of the summit reflected the increasingly complex and technical language of G20 officials. Combined with its lack of [...]
The European Commission announced on the August 30, 2016, that Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to €13 billion to Apple. This is illegal under EU state aid rules, because it allowed Apple to pay substantially less tax than other businesses. Ireland must now recover the illegal aid. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of [...]
The Commission has amended the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Regulation (FLEGT) to recognise Indonesia’s licensing scheme for exports of verified legal timber to the EU. The delegated regulation amends the FLEGT Regulation to include Indonesia and its Licensing Information Unit under the list of ‘Partner countries and their designated licensing authorities’. It [...]
On 8 August 2016, the Council agreed not to impose fines on Portugal and Spain for their failure to take effective action to correct their excessive deficits. It also stepped up the excessive deficit procedure for both countries, setting new correction deadlines and giving notice of measures to be taken. On 12 July 2016, the Council found [...]
On 2 August, President Juncker announced his intention to allocate the Security Union portfolio to Sir Julian King, the candidate for Commissioner from the United Kingdom. The Commissioner for the Security Union will support the implementation of the European Agenda on Security that the European Commission adopted on 28 April 2015. He will contribute to [...]
A new bank in Kosovo, BPB, has joined the energy efficiency financing programme of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Under an agreement signed in Pristina today by EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti and Arton Celina, the Chief Executive Officer of BPB, the bank will receive a €1 million EBRD credit line for [...]
To help citizens and businesses benefit fully from the internal market, the European Commission continuously engages with and, if necessary, initiates infringement procedures against Member States which do not respect European law. The European Commission also closes pending cases where the Member State concerned, in cooperation with the Commission, has solved the problem and ensured [...]
The European Commission has found that MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco, and DAF broke EU antitrust rules. These truck makers colluded for 14 years on truck pricing and on passing on the costs of compliance with stricter emission rules. The Commission has imposed a record fine of € 2 926 499 000. MAN was not fined [...]
An attempted Turkish military coup appeared to crumble in the early hours of Saturday after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan’s call to take to the streets to support him. Gunfire and explosions had rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and [...]