Robots are increasingly becoming more important. Not only are they being used in areas such as medicine, agriculture and manufacturing, they are now also capable of driving cars and piloting drones. However, their increasing use and expanding capabilities have significant implications. On 21 April Parliament's legal affairs committee held a hearing to discuss with experts the issues involved, such as safety, liability and risk management. Increasing importance More and more appliances are now able to operate interactively and autonomously to some...

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The Commission is today taking stock of the progress made in the first six months since the adoption of the Capital Markets Union Action Plan and it is publishing the first CMU status report. The Capital Markets Union is an important element of the Commission's priority strategy to support jobs, growth and investment and is a key building block of the Investment Plan for Europe. The objective of the Capital Markets Union (CMU) is to diversify and amplify sources of...

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Financial integration in the euro area is improving, though more slowly Recent financial turbulence should not hamper further integration Further developing European capital markets and integrating retail banking markets enhances the financial system’s resilience, its contribution to cross-country risk-sharing and its ability to finance the real economy The 2016 edition of the ECB’s report on Financial Integration in Europe, published today at a joint conference with the EU Commission at the ECB in Frankfurt, shows that financial integration in the euro area...

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89 420 applications for trade mark protection were received in 2015 by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) from the Member States of the European Union (EU), a number about 4 times higher than that of the mid-1990s. Over recent years, the number of EU trade mark (TM) applications originating from EU Member States has constantly risen, with the exception of the slowdown registered with the economic and financial crisis in 2008. Full text available on EUROSTAT website Compliments of the...

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The European Commission published new figures today showing that, in 2015, more than 2,000 dangerous products triggered EU-wide alerts. A key challenge is the increasing share of products bought online from outside the EU. The Commission, EU Member States and businesses are working together to ensure that these unsafe consumer goods are removed from the European market. "The Rapid Alert system has helped coordinate quick reactions between consumer protection authorities to remove dangerous products across Europe. Two challenges lie ahead of...

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On 22 April 2016 the EU and its 28 member states signed the global Paris climate agreement in a high-level ceremony in New York (United States). The agreement was concluded at the UN climate change conference in December 2015, so called COP21, that took place in Paris. The document will be now open for signature for one year. Dutch Minister for the Environment and President of the Council, Sharon Dijksma, said: "This is a historic day for global climate action....

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Today is Earth Day, the last one I'll celebrate as President. Looking back over the past seven years, I'm hopeful that the work we've done will allow my daughters and all of our children to inherit a cleaner, healthier, and safer planet. But I know there is still work to do. That's why, today, the United States will join about 170 other countries in signing the Paris Agreement, a historic deal to reduce carbon emissions across the globe. When Secretary of State...

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Over the past few years, The Whitehouse have watched closely as millions of people created and signed petitions on our We the People petitions platform. We've responded to our signers on issues from overtime rules, to STEM OPT regulations, to the Syrian refugee crisis. We've watched how people used the site and have heard some helpful feedback from the community. Now, we have something exciting to share with you: a new version of We the People. You'll notice that we made a few...

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