Putting Europe first – EUbusiness Week newsletter 770 – EUbusiness.com

EUbusiness Week 770 top stories: New EU presidency sticks to tough line on Brexit; EU-US (re)insurance deal boost for transatlantic trade; MEPs reject weak Commission money-laundering blacklist; New debt recovery rules enter into force; Brussels hails Amazon, Apple deal on audiobooks; UK needs migrant workers, but will they come? report

Publisher’s Note

In a week in which U.S. president Donald Trump starts work on ‘making American great again’, Europe debated its own future in the European Parliament this week.

EU relations with the US and Russia, Brexit, migration, economic and social progress, and the defence union were the key political challenges picked out by MEPs for 2017.

The need for unity in response to challenges “from outside but also from within” was a common theme. Commissioner Katainen stressed the importance of EU institutions and of the art of compromise in the “post-truth era”. “Europe’s fate is in our hands, he said. Let’s not let others define what Europe is about.”
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Regards,

Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness

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1. New EU presidency sticks to tough line on Brexit

Malta’s prime minister Joseph Muscat, speaking at the European Parliament Wednesday, promised a fair deal for the United Kingdom, but a deal that would necessarily be inferior to EU membership.
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Britain must leave the single market, says May

2. EU-US (re)insurance deal boost for transatlantic trade

More than 20 years of talks between the EU and the United States ended successfully with a bilateral agreement set to boost transatlantic trade in insurance and re-insurance.
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3. MEPs reject weak Commission money-laundering blacklist

MEPs voted Thursday to reject the Commission’s blacklist of countries deemed to be at risk of money laundering and terrorist financing, saying the list was too limited.
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4. New debt recovery rules enter into force

Businesses, particularly SMEs, stand to benefit from new EU rules to recover debt from debtors in other EU countries which came into force on Wednesday.
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5. Brussels hails Amazon, Apple deal on audiobooks

The Commission welcomed Thursday an agreement to end all exclusivity obligations concerning audiobook supply and distribution between Amazon’s subsidiary Audible and Apple.
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6. UK needs migrant workers, but will they come? report

A new report on the impact of Brexit on UK migration shows that job sectors where EU workers are most needed are seeing the biggest immediate dip in interest following the ‘leave’ vote on 23 June.
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EUROPEAN LAW

Cathode ray tubes cartel: Europe’s top Court confirmed Wednesday a fine of EUR 82 million imposed jointly and severally on Toshiba and Panasonic for their part in a cartel on the market for tubes for television sets.
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Latest news from the European Court of Justice
EU law firms
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Inside the EU Institutions

Council Watch

Report by President Donald Tusk to the European Parliament on the European Council meeting of 15 December 2016 – Speech by Donald Tusk on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the International Recognition of the Republic of Croatia
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Commission Watch

Implementation of EU-US TFTP and PNR Agreements – Car rental improvements – EUR 65m grant to Zambia to improve access to energy – Acquisition of Morpho Detection by Smiths – Eurostat current account – House prices – December 16 inflation – Production in construction – International Trade in Services – Updated Draft Budgetary Plans of Spain and Lithuania – TTIP state of play – Progress in relations between EU and Switzerland
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Parliament Watch

Statement by President Tajani on recent earthquakes in Italy – European Social Rights – blacklist of states at risk of money laundering – Human rights: Indonesia, Central African Republic and Burundi – emergency winter aid – Antonio Tajani elected as new Parliament president – Mid-term elections in the Parliament – MEPs lay out priorities to Maltese Council Presidency
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EU diary

23-26 Jan: European Parliament Committee Meetings
23 Jan: Agriculture and Fisheries Council
24 Jan: Workshop on ICT standards in public procurement
24 Jan: EU SMEs in global value chains
24-25 Jan: 9th conference on European space policy
25-27 Jan: Computers, privacy & data protection conference
26 Jan: Eurogroup
27 Jan: Economic and Financial Affairs Council
The Week Ahead
Long-term diary