EUbusiness Week 845 top stories: Facebook ‘not keeping to commitments on disinformation’; EU-Arab League commit to stronger ties; States agree easier access to capital for Europe’s SMEs; New EU low-carbon benchmarks for sustainable investment; State aid ceiling for EU farmers raised to EUR 25K; EU platform to boost diagnosis of rare diseases
Publisher’s Note
A special Euro-Parliament tax committee, set up in the wake of the Luxleaks, Panama Papers and Paradise papers scandals, this week recommended the creation of a European financial police force as part of a roadmap to more effective taxation and to clamping down on financial crimes. There is little effective cross-border supervision and 28 differing national anti-money laundering and anti-tax fraud provisions, said co-rapporteur Jeppe Kofod MEP. With a string of loopholes for criminals to abuse and launder vast amounts of money, tougher EU-level regulation, sanctions on banks facilitating financial crimes and a new European financial police within Europol are called for.
More …
Regards,
Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness
PARTNER OFFER Reach our global audience of business & political actors with your own mini-website on EUbusiness.com! – Send us press releases, blogs, guides, events & jobs – Details |
1. Facebook ‘not keeping to commitments on disinformation’
Social media platform Facebook is not keeping to commitments it made on disinformation with regard to scrutiny of ad placements, the Commission said Thursday as it published progress reports from Facebook, Google and Twitter.
More …
2. EU-Arab League commit to closer ties
Leaders of the EU and the League of Arab States meeting for the first ever summit between the two regions have agreed to strengthen cooperation particularly on border control and the fight against irregular migration.
More …
3. States agree easier access to capital for Europe’s SMEs
EU ambassadors have agreed a negotiating mandate on proposed rules to help Europe’s smaller businesses trying to list and issue securities on financial markets to tap market-based funding more easily and cheaply.
More …
4. New EU low-carbon benchmarks for sustainable investment
Council and Parliament reached a preliminary agreement Monday on a proposal for new financial benchmarks aimed at giving greater information on an investment portfolio’s carbon footprint.
More …
5. State aid ceiling for EU farmers raised to EUR 25K
The maximum aid Member States can give to their farmers without need for prior EU approval will rise from EUR 15,000 to EUR 25,000, the Commission has announced, to allow greater flexibility, especially in times of crisis.
More …
6. EU platform to boost diagnosis of rare diseases
On Rare Disease Day the Commission launched a new online knowledge-sharing platform to support better diagnosis and treatment for more than 30 million Europeans living with a rare disease.
More …
EUROPEAN LAW
Amazon phone: Amazon and other e-commerce platforms are not obliged to make a telephone number available for consumers on their web pages, the EU top Court’s Advocate General stated in an Opinion on Thursday.
More …
Latest news from the European Court of Justice
EU law firms
More …
Inside the EU Institutions
Council Watch
Access to financial markets for SMEs – framework for covered bonds – Investment firms: new regulatory and supervision framework – Basic road connectivity, social security entitlements, ensuring safe flying in event of no-deal Brexit – low carbon benchmarks – Sharm El-Sheikh summit – Belarus sanctions – technical measures in fisheries – road infrastructure management – InvestEU
More …
Council …
Commission Watch
State aid: probe into public financing of Oresund fixed rail-road link, approval of RWE acquisition of E.ON electricity generation assets – Rare Disease Day – Education for Children with Disabilities – European Semester Winter Package progress – New ACP-EU Partnership talks – EUR 10bn for innovative clean technologies – wind farms in France
More …
Commission …
Parliament Watch
Laura Codruta Kovesi Civil Liberties MEPs’ top choice for EU Chief Prosecutor – Protecting citizens’ access to social security in case of no-deal Brexit – Copyright: MEPs back provisional agreement
More …
More …
EU diary
4 Mar: European Parliament Committee Meetings
4 Mar: Transport, Telecoms & Energy Council (Energy)
5 Mar: Environment Council
6-7 Mar: 2019 Circular economy stakeholder conference
6-7 Mar: Investors to finance Deep Tech innovation
6 Mar: Future of government 2030+: final event
6 Mar: Independent living for people with disabilities
7 Mar: Ground handling conference 2019
7-8 Mar: Justice and Home Affairs Council
7 Mar: Transport, Telecoms & Energy Council (Transport)
7-8 Mar: European Parliament Committee Meetings
The Week Ahead
Long-term diary
RESOURCES
EU Law Firms
Summaries of EU Legislation
EU Decision-Making
Treaties of the European Union
Key EU Legal Terms
Other news on EUbusiness this week
Auditors examine EU fight against superbugs 28-Feb
EUbusiness Community
PROMOTE YOUR COMPANY ON EUBUSINESS |
Breaking News
Germany and France battle over UK�s EU budget rebate (Financial Times)
Press
Far-right populist surge would threaten EU climate action: report
SaveYourInternet.eu: Citizens set to prevent upload filters in the EU
Unambitious and ineffective: Member States’ water report cards are in
SMEs can make Europe stronger – SMEunited kicks off information campaign ahead of European Elections
Poland starts illegally destroying another protected nature site – Commission urged to act
LCI launches 100% ‘Clean Label’ preservative for bakery products
More press …
Jobs
Lawyer (Course Director) in EU Financial Markets & Banking Law, Academy of European Law
Lawyer in Directorate Patent Law, European Patent Office
Lawyer, Agriculture, ClientEarth
Head of Unit – Corporate Services, European Food Safety Authority
Corporate Support Assistant, European Banking Authority
Migration Officer, Red Cross EU Office
Automotive & e-mobility market analyst, Transport & Environment
Electricity and energy analyst, Transport & Environment
More jobs …
Guides
European Semester 2019: Winter Package
Innovation Fund Delegated Regulation
More guides …
Events
4 Mar, London: Japan Securities Summit
24 Apr, Taipei: Global Offshore Wind Summit
5 Mar, London: Climate Bonds Annual Conference
2 May, Crete: CLOSER 2019 – International Conference on Cloud Computing and Services Science
10 Jun, London: Responsible Business Summit Europe 2019
22 Jun, Bilbao: Lobbying Summer Academy
26 Jul, Prague: International Conference on e-Business
31 Oct, Abu Dhabi: Citizenship and Residency Exhibition
More …
More events …
Publications
Sweden, UK and the EU: Managing post-Brexit Relations and Defining a new Agenda for European Competitiveness – ECIPE Policy Brief
Commission report on the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (assessment of the second River Basin Management Plans) and the Floods Directive (first Flood Risk Management Plans)
More …
Convenient Truths – Mapping climate agendas of right-wing populist parties in Europe
More publications …
Links
European Platform on Rare Disease Registration (EU RD Platform)
