EU matters business
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BUSINESS NEWS DID YOU KNOW THAT… …Galileo Satellites were launched? The European Space Agency had launched two of Galileo’s first IOV (in-orbit validation) operational satellites. The IOVs were taken into the earth’s orbit with the help of the rocket Soyuz. The Galileo program will provide enhanced a global satellite navigational system, which will remove the dependency on the U.S. GPS navigation system. At the same time, Galileo will provide better coverage of Northern Europe, where the possibilities of using GPS are greatly reduced. ...Nord Stream Pipeline was kicked off? The new Nord Stream pipeline will bring 27.5 billion cubic meters a year of Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany, rising up to 55 billion (equivalent to 10 percent of the total EU gas consumption) when it is in full effect next year. This 1,224 km long pipeline cost €7.5 billion and is expected to stay in service for 50 years. The main stakeholder is Russian Gazprom at 51 percent. The gas will be sold mainly in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. However, Baltic States and Poland do not trust this joint GermanRussian project. ...new Biological centre will be created in the Czech Republic? New biotech and biomedical centre BIOCEV will be instituted near Prague by 2015. The European Union will financially contribute €2.3 billion to its establishment. The new scientific centre is already the fifth largest project that is approved by the European Commission in the Czech Republic. Six science foundations from the Academy of Sciences and two faculties from Charles University are contributing to its establishment. The main goal is to increase prestigious research, which will be integrated with the European Research Area and thus guarantee the development of modern biotechnology and biomedicine for the benefit of scientific progress and innovated societies. …the European parliament awarded activists of the Arab Spring? Members of the European Parliament showed solidarity with the Arab world by awarding the Sakharov Prize to five activists of the Arab Spring, who self-immolated themselves in the name of freedom and democracy. One of them was Mohammed Bouazizi, a 27 year old Tunisian street trader who burnt himself to death in December in protest against corruption, inspiring revolutionaries at home and in the region. …the UK and Cyprus are the world’s leading destinations for money launderers? EU Member States Cyprus and the UK have been named by the World Bank as two of the world’s leading destinations for money launderers. World Bank report showed that the UK and its overseas territories have hosted 172 companies. In Cyprus, 11 companies hosted these illegal activities. Besides, the UK is home for 30 “dirty banks;” Cyprus for 15 and Switzerland (part of EEA) 76. The total for laundered funds is estimated at least 40 billion dollars a year.
LET’S TALK NUMBERS Academic cooperation with US and Canada The Commission Report assesses the progress of the EU’s partnership program with Canada and the U.S, which
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supports the mobility of students and academic staff and seeks to link the academic worlds on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Between 2006 and 2010, The Commission promoted their cooperation with the U.S. with the financial support of €23 million and Canada with €5 million. The Commission believes their collaboration was a success with 5,034 individuals in the U.S. and 2,804 individuals in Canada. However, the bilateral project has ceased and desisted in autumn 2011 due to lack of funding. Italian crime is seriously harming Italian economy The study by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna has estimated that organised crime in Italy is worth €116 billion a year, equivalent to 7.7 percent of the country’s GDP. Italian crime is the foremost in illegal waste disposal, drugs and human trafficking, and it is seriously devastating the Italian economy in the long and medium term. The lack of accountability has also distorted the national economic figures, as well as the macroeconomic analysis and legislation. Percentage of organised crime in Italy is considerably higher than in other industrial economies, in comparison with the 1.3 percent of GPD in Germany, 1.2 percent in the UK and 2.3 percent in the US. Errors in EU budget spending The EU’s revenue in underlying the accounts has been legitimized and customary in all physical aspects. However, its payments were affected by material errors, with an estimated error rate of 3.7 percent for the EU budget as a whole. The error rate rose up to 3.3 percent in 2010 after it was dropping yearly from the 7 percent in 2006. It wasn’t sign of fraud but rather a deficiency the union’s financial system. One of the most fallible areas is the cohesion policy, the second biggest part of the EU spending, which was worth €36 billion. In agriculture, the error was estimated at 2.3 percent. European power plants need to invest up to one trillion EUR In the near future, power plants in the EU will have to invest in the production, distribution, reduction and moderation of harmful emissions for a total of one trillion EUR. This is due to the rising energy consumption, which will increase by about one-third in Central and Eastern Europe by 2025. In financing these energy projects, bank loans will cover up to 60 percent of the needed capital. The commission has proclaimed this need in their new “Connecting Europe Facility” proposal and bond initiative project. Project Bonds As a reaction to the EU economic recession, the European Commission will make available €230 million from January 2012 within the first phase of “project bonds”. Its main goal is to help investments in transport, energy and broadband connections within Member States that are suffering from the crisis and are unable to finance themselves from their own national budgets. Together with Connecting Europe Facility, the European Invest Bank will manage the loan-guarantees and assist companies in financing their expensive infrastructure ventures. The Commission expects “project bonds” would stimulate further investments up to €4.6 billion.
EU IN THE WORLD EU and Sri Lanka agreed on aviation deal The Colombo aviation agreement will restore a sound legal basis for developing future aviation relations between Sri Lanka and 15 EU Member States. This accord will place several provisions in the bilateral air services agreements and ensure compliance from EU legislation. This also represents an important step towards strengthening these relations and enhancing the overall cooperation with Sri Lanka, while encouraging air traffic between them and the EU. Air travel is vital in connecting these people together, as well as their different culture and businesses. SMEs support to go international The European Commission has published a new stratagem, which should help SMEs to develop faster in the international markets. They’re focusing on regions such as China, India, Brazil or Russia. The commission wishes to increase the number of SMEs involved in exports outside the EU. Currently, only 13 percent of entrepreneurs export outside the EU. This form of communication proposes a review of the existing support structures that are available to SMEs, which identifies what the main issues are and proposes a set of measures, setting up more effective, useful principles for those with limited financial resources. Japan-EU business forum The Focus Group that was established for the convergence of Japanese and European entrepreneurs met at the end of October in Tokyo, Japan. The group made recommendations in cooperation with other Japanese and European authorities to guarantee a sustainable energy for the competitive economical environment. Entrepreneurs call for a reassessment of the national and regional energy policies between the EU and Japan. Their aim in the coming decades is to integrate their energy policies with a sustainable, economic expansion. Their key issue is to gain access to a more reliable and affordable energy resource while maintaining “free enterprise” and their national GDP. New Programme for duties and taxes The European Commission proposed a new program called FISCUS, which is to be launched in January 2014 with budget of €777.6 million. The program was created by merging other existing programs for duties and taxes. FISCUS will promote cooperation between customs, tax authorities and other state agencies in maximizing their efficiency and avoiding mismatches in their work, which could hinder the internal market. The commission’s aim is not only to strengthen and improve the trade environment, but also to fight against fraud and reduce bureaucracy.
Brought by CEBRE – Czech Business Representation to the EU (kindly supported by CzechTrade), www.cebre.cz
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