EU matters business
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE
BUSINESS NEWS JULY–AUGUST 2013
DID YOU KNOW THAT…? … you can have your say about modernized business insolvency? Any interested party can contribute to the public consultation of the European Commission on the modernized rules for business insolvency. The focus of modernization is on helping sound businesses to survive temporary crisis while protecting creditors’ rights. National insolvency rules largely differ, creating undesirable discrepancies among ‘times to discharge’ (time to close down a failed business) or gaps for moving failed business abroad. This consultation is open until 11 October 2013 and accessible Commission´s on website. … new cars will be equipped with „eCall“ by 2015? Proposed draft legislation of the European Commission suggests that new passenger cars and light duty vehicles will be equipped with mandatory eCall system by 2015. The system automatically dials 112 (European single emergency number) in case of serious accident. Estimated number of lives saved could rise by 2 500 people, reducing the count of 28 000 killed on European roads last year. Once the proposals (two legislative pieces) are approved by the Council and Parliament, the Commission plans to deploy a fully functional eCall service in the EU (together with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) by 2015. …better exchange of tax information was under preparation? Tax evasion has become a burning issue that affects proper businesses as well as governments of Member states. New proposal by the Commission from June is suggesting an extension of categories of information that will be subject to the automatic exchange of information between EU tax administration units. According to the proposal, dividends, capital gains, all other forms of financial income and account balances will be covered in the system. This new extension would establish the most comprehensive tax information exchange system in the world. …vocational training and apprenticeships were in current EU’s spotlight? The 2nd of July marks the day when the Alliance for Apprenticeships was launched, establishing new platform for cooperation and better coordination between the needs of businesses and training schemes of EU vocational education system. The Alliance will support national reforms in order to improve apprenticeships with the help of signatories of the accompanying Joint Declaration. They have committed to spread experience and good practice, cooperate with schools and employers or increase the supply and quality of apprenticeships. The Commission will in return support the policy reforms, ensure better use of EU funds and explore inclusion of apprenticeships in the EURES network. …the Czechs were above average in pursuing the single market? Czech performance in implementation of single market rules, based on The Single Market Scoreboard for 2012–2013, is improving and generally above EU average. The Czech Republic has fulfilled limits requested by the EU in all aspects apart from handling cases in SOLVIT. Transposition deficit of the directives has been reduced significantly in the last few years and the Internal Market Information System, EURES or Single Europe have been complying with the directive. Regarding SOLVIT, the Commission recommends improving the response time to clients and the resolution rate. LET S TALK NUMBERS… Internet in the EU 5000 times faster In the beginning of July, EU has launched together with Japan six research projects aiming at increasing the efficiency of carrying data in networks. EU’s average broadband speed shall be increased by the STRAUSS project, which will be developing networks 5000 times faster than the current speed (100Gbps instead of 19.7Mbps). The other projects are concerning smart city operations, use of energy in IT in post-disaster situations, personal data security etc.
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80% of Europeans willing to pay for eco-friendly products Recently released survey indicates that four out of five Europeans would consider changing their purchasing habits and buy more environmentally-friendly products, however, most of them are not confident in manufacturers‘ claims and feel lack of information. Manufacturers of environmentally-friendly products would profit from gaining the trust of 77% of reluctant EU citizens or providing more information to the 55% of consumers that lack them. Moreover, two thirds of people would be willing to pay more if product‘s guarantee of reliability was extended to five years. Research and innovation boosted by EUR22 billion The Commission has joined forces with member states and European industry to invest ERU22 billion in the next seven years in sectors delivering high quality jobs. Five public-private partnership research projects, called ‘Joint Technology Initiatives’ (JTIs), are to receive most of the investment. They address areas such as innovative medicine, efficient technologies, cleaner transport, electronics manufacturing and ecologically sustainable products. The total investment of 8 billion EUR under new research and innovation programme Horizon 2020 will secure 10 billion EUR from the industry and 4 billion EUR from member states. One step closer to the EU budget 2014–2020 On 18th and 19th June 2013, representatives of the Irish Presidency, the European Parliament and the European Commission have concluded the negotiations on the 2014–2020 financial period. Total commitment appropriations, as proposed by the European Council in February, amount to EUR959.988 million for the seven years period – an 8% decrease of EUR85.294 million compared to MFF 2009–2013. Proposal includes a binding revision clause in 2016. It is now up to the Parliament and the Council to conclude negotiations and formally adopt their approval for 2014–2020 budget and related legislative package. Data roaming 36% cheaper EU citizens have enjoyed cheaper roaming on their holiday in other member states this summer. Starting from 1st July 2013, the European Union’s Roaming Regulation has lowered the data price caps by 36%, which is a 91% reduction compared to 2007. Especially visitors to the new member state Croatia have been pleased with their savings, because data roaming has become almost 15 times cheaper and sending a SMS or making a phone call 10 times cheaper. Roaming services in the entire EU are capped by 45 cents/MB for data download, 24 cents/ minute of making a call, 7 cents/minute of receiving a call and 8 cents/SMS (VAT not included, caps refer to the retail price). Operators are invited to offer cheaper rates and some have even begun to remove extra charges for roaming altogether or establish a roaming-free area. The most expensive are Denmark and Ireland Buying a food and non-alcoholic beverage basket in Denmark costs more than double compared to buying the same basket in Poland. In 2012, price level in Denmark reached 143% of the EU27 average, followed by Sweden (124%) and Austria (120%). The lowest price levels were observed in Poland (61%), Romania (67%) and Bulgaria (68%) as the statistical office of the EU Eurostat stated in its latest report. For tobacco products, however, the prices were almost four times higher in Ireland (199% of the EU27 average) or United Kingdom (194%) with highest price levels than in Hungary (52%) or Lithuania (55%) with the lowest level. The price level in the Czech Republic is below average, tobacco being the cheapest commodity in this comparison (69%) and alcoholic beverages the most expensive (96%). IN THE WORLD Businesses in Eastern Partnership countries to receive new funding Small- and medium-sized enterprises in EaP countries will profit from a new programme to support trade opportunities in the region. Total contribution of the EU will
be 10 million EUR and will be invested in three flagship initiatives: Supporting policy and legislative institutional reforms, as assessed in the 2012 report “Progress in the implementation of the Small Business Act for Europe in the EaP countries”; Extending the East-Invest project in cooperation with Eurochambers, BusinessEurope and UEAPME; Strengthening auditing and reporting capacity of SMEs. The European Commission adopted the programme on 1st of July and it is expected to start in the second half of this year. First round of EU-US negotiations concluded Only several days after launching official talks on Trade and Investment Partnership between EU and US the first round of negotiations took place in Washington. Groups of negotiators have set out their approaches towards as much as twenty various areas covered by TTIP. These include among others market access, government procurement, investment, energy and raw materials, services, intellectual property rights, SMEs, competition or trade facilitation. The groups identified certain areas where their intentions are converging and begun to explore possibilities to bridge the gaps where they diverge. Further negotiations on the biggest bilateral trade and investment agreement will take place during the week of 7 October in Brussels. Direct gas highway from the Caspian sea The Consortium of the Shah Deniz II gas field, licenceholder for exploiting the gas reserves, has chosen the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) as a new connection delivering gas from the Turkish border via Greece and Albania to Italy. Another new pipeline TANAP is currently under construction in Turkey, which means that the gas infrastructure will connect EU directly to the Caspian Sea. The EU continues to hold negotiations with potential gas suppliers in the bigger region in view of additional gas volumes. With the forecast of the International Energy Agency stating that EU gas demand will increase up to 622 billion cubic meters by 2030 (from current 526 billion cubic meters) and due to expected decline in home production, additional gas suppliers are indispensable. EU pursuing free trade with Canada Negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between EU and Canada are now in their final phase. Agreement will establish a free trade area that will upgrade current mutual trade and investment relationship. Negotiations, launched in 2009, are covering market access for goods, services, investment and for public procurement contracts, technical standards and regulations, investment protection, intellectual property rights and sustainable development. Business missions planned to South-East and Far-East Asia Businesses have an opportunity to join Vice-President Antonio Tajani on his missions for growth to Vietnam and Thailand in 12–16 November 2013 that will take place at the occasion of organising the EU-Myanmar Task Force on 13–14 November. The missions help EU companies to operate in designated countries and promote growth of industry and innovation. Furthermore, the EU Gateway programme plans three business missions to Japan and South Korea in 2014 for European companies. It is intended for solid EU enterprises experienced in extra-EU exports to help them grow their business. There will be 2 missions concerning the environment and energy market, one in each country and additional mission in the area of medical devices to Japan. Programme is funded by the EU. Myanmar: Program for the mission + website Japan + SK: http://www.eu-gateway.eu/environmentand-energy Japan medical devices: http://www.eu-gateway.eu/ news/new-apply-now-healthcare-medical-mission-japan Brought by CEBRE – Czech Business Representation to the EU (kindly supported by Ministry of Industry and Trade of the CR), www.cebre.cz
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