Member News

EY ITEM Club 2019 Spring Forecast

By Mark GegoryChief Economist, UK | EY The EY ITEM Club Spring Forecast has cut its GDP growth projections to 1.3% for 2019 (from 1.5% in the EY ITEM Club Winter Forecast) and 1.5% for 2020 (down from 1.7%). Despite likely solid-looking GDP growth in the first quarter of 2019, the downward revision for 2019 primarily reflects the prolonged Brexit uncertainty, following the decision to delay the UK’s exit from the EU to a flexible 31 October deadline. A weaker...

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Member News

Via, an on-demand shared ride services today expanded its Chicago-area service to include Evanston.

All shared rides within Evanston will have a $3 flat fare. Via aims to be a first-and-last mile solution, connecting residents and commuters to rail stations without the need for a personal vehicle. “At Via, our goal is to eliminate the need for private car ownership by providing affordable, convenient, and eco-friendly on-demand shared transportation that can seamlessly integrate into existing public transit infrastructure” said Alex Lavoie, US General Manager of Via. Using the Via app, passengers select their pick up and drop...

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Member News

GDPR: (Almost) one year later

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect 11 months ago. After almost a year of GDPR that became applicable on May 25, 2018, it should be investigated how the main subjects of this Regulation – the companies processing personal data and the member states’ supervisory authorities (“Supervisory Authorities”)– are dealing with it. For instance, the recent Open Right Group’s survey (see below)  shows the number of complaints made by the data subjects (Chart 1) and the number of data breach notification...

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Chapter News, News

Facts and figures: European Parliament’s 2014-2019 term

What was the European Parliament like during its 2014-2019 term? Find out some interesting facts ahead of the European elections on 23-26 May that will shape the next Parliament. Less than half of the MEPs that arrived in July 2014 were new to the Parliament. Some 51.5% had served as MEPs previously. Greece had the largest proportion of new MEPs at 90.5%. The share of women MEPs was 36.9% at the start of the term, decreasing slightly to 36.5% at end...

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Brexit News, Member News

Weekly Vulcan View | Analysis of latest EU developments 22 – 26 April

Key Events This Week Brexit: State of Play If Brexit goes ahead, the Scottish Nationalist Party under Nicola Sturgeon will seek another referendum before the 2021 Scottish Parliamentary Elections. Sturgeon suggested that the case for independence is “even stronger now”, given the “profound changes” that have occurred since 2014. Brexit has been a political gift to the SNP. 62 percent of Scots rejected it, in every single region – the most resounding Remain vote of the UK’s four nations. A year after...

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Chapter News, News

New round of U.S. tariffs a ‘modest’ hit for euro area: ECB Report

A new round of tariffs between the United States and its main partners would only cause a “modest decrease” in the pace of economic growth in the euro zone, according to research by the European Central Bank. The study simulated a two-way, 10 percent increase in tariff and other trade barriers between the world’s largest economy and all its partners. It showed an “overall modest decrease in activity” in the euro area due to fading global confidence outweighing a boost to...

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Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

 ECB Economic Bulletin- The economic implications of rising protectionism: a euro area and global perspective

Prepared by Vanessa Gunnella and Lucia Quaglietti Published as part of the ECB Economic Bulletin, Issue 3/2019. The risk of a trade war came sharply into focus in 2018, as protectionist threats by the US Administration and its trading partners were followed by concrete actions. Tensions rose over the summer and, while these have been defused on some fronts, the risk of further escalation remains material. The impact of the measures implemented so far on the global and euro area economic outlooks...

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Member News

E-2 Treaty Investor Visas Available to Israeli Nationals as of May 1, 2019

By Tara L Vance | Holland & Knight The U.S. Embassy in Israel has finally made the long-awaited announcement that the required treaty agreement has been signed pursuant to which nationals of Israel will be able to apply for an E-2 visa as of May 1, 2019. What Is an E-2 Visa? An E-2 visa is a nonimmigrant work visa that permits a national of a qualifying country, such as Israel beginning May 1, 2019, to come to the U.S. temporarily if...

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Member News

Update on Property Tax Issues: April 2019

The EACC, in partnership with the International Property Tax Institute (IPTI), wants to keep its members up to date with the latest developments in property taxes in the USA and Europe. IPTI has put together a selection of brief reports from articles contained in IPTI Xtracts which can be found on its website (www.ipti.org).   USA New York: New York State’s 2 percent tax cap, first signed into law in 2011 and renewed periodically since then, is now permanent. Governor Andrew Cuomo included...

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Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

EU-U.S. Trade: Commission welcomes Council’s green light to start negotiations with the United States

The European Commission welcomes today's decision by the Council to adopt the negotiating directives for trade talks with the United States, thus continuing to deliver on the implementation of the Joint Statement agreed by Presidents Juncker and Trump in July 2018. European Union Member States gave the Commission the green light to start formal negotiations with the U.S. on two agreements, one on conformity assessment, and the other on eliminating tariffs on industrial products. This is just three months after...

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