Chapter News

07 Dec
Chapter News, COVID-19 News

EU Council greenlights temporary VAT relief on COVID-19 vaccines and test kits

The EU is taking steps to ensure affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines and testing kits. The Council today adopted amendments to the directive on the common system of value added tax (VAT) to allow member states to temporarily exempt COVID-19 vaccines and testing kits, as well as closely related services, from VAT. Member states may also apply a reduced VAT rate to testing kits and closely related services, if they choose to do so. This possibility is already available for vaccines. The...

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07 Dec
Chapter News

EU Council conclusions on European Union – United States relations

The Council reaffirms the strategic importance of the European Union’s partnership with the United States of America as the world’s foremost and closest relationship, rooted in shared values and common interests, cultural and historic ties, as well as geopolitical reality. A strong transatlantic partnership is vital to ensure and to contribute to our common security, stability and prosperity. We also believe that transatlantic relations are the bedrock of the rules-based international order, reinforcing international peace and security, freedom,...

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07 Dec
Chapter News

Digital Decade: EU Commission launches Action Plan to support recovery and transformation of the media and audiovisual sectors

Today the Commission adopted an Action Plan to support the recovery and transformation of the media and audiovisual sector. These sectors, particularly hit by the coronavirus crisis, are essential for democracy, Europe's cultural diversity and digital autonomy. The Action Plan focuses on three areas of activity and 10 concrete actions, to help the media sector recover from the crisis by facilitating and broadening access to finance, transform by stimulating investments to embrace the twin digital and green transitions while ensuring the sector's future resilience and empower European...

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07 Dec
Chapter News, COVID-19 News

OECD | COVID-19 crisis adds pressure to private and public pensions systems

The COVID-19 crisis has compounded the challenges facing retirement savings and old-age pension arrangements and added new ones, according to a new OECD report. The OECD Pensions Outlook 2020 says that population ageing, low growth, low returns and low interest rates were already weighing heavily on funded and pay-as-you-go pension plans, defined benefit and defined contribution schemes, as well as private and public retirement provisions before the outbreak of the pandemic. The shocks from the global health and economic crisis will...

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03 Dec
Chapter News, COVID-19 News

OECD tax revenues fall slightly before the COVID-19 pandemic, but countries face much larger decreases ahead, particularly from consumption taxes

December 03, 2020 | Tax revenues fell across the OECD for the first time in a decade during 2019, but a much larger decrease is expected in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic drives down economic activity and consumption tax revenues, according to new OECD research published today. The 2020 edition of the OECD’s annual Revenue Statistics publication shows that the average tax-to-GDP ratio has fallen to 33.8% in 2019, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points since 2018. This was due to decreases...

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03 Dec
Chapter News, Trade & TTIP Related

EU Commission | A new EU-US agenda for global change

Joint communication to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council | December 02, 2020 | 1.      Introduction The relationship between the European Union and the United States is unique and built on shared history, shared values and shared interests. The transatlantic partnership was born of a promise of collective peace, progress and prosperity. After the Second World War, the Marshall Plan helped rebuild Europe’s communities and economies. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) ensured our collective security. Together, Europe...

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02 Dec
Chapter News

OECD | Governments should strike a balance between encouraging philanthropy through tax support and ensuring effective public policy

November 26, 2020 | Governments should continue providing support to the philanthropic sector while taking steps to safeguard tax systems and ensure that the activities of philanthropic organisations continue to align with the public interest, according to a new report from the OECD. Taxation and Philanthropy reviews the tax treatment of philanthropic entities and charitable donations in 40 countries worldwide. The report points out the significant impact of philanthropy – the non-profit sector represents as much as 5% of GDP in many...

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02 Dec
Chapter News, Trade & TTIP Related

EU-US: A new transatlantic agenda for global change

The European Commission and the High Representative are today putting forward a proposal for a new, forward-looking transatlantic agenda. While the past years have been tested by geopolitical power shifts, bilateral tensions and unilateral tendencies, the victory of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, combined with a more assertive and capable European Union and a new geopolitical and economic reality, present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to design a new transatlantic agenda for global cooperation based on our common values, interests...

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02 Dec
Chapter News

IMF | How Artificial Intelligence Could Widen the Gap Between Rich and Poor Nations

New technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, big data, and networks are expected to revolutionize production processes, but they could also have a major impact on developing economies. The opportunities and potential sources of growth that, for example, the United States and China enjoyed during their early stages of economic development are remarkably different from what Cambodia and Tanzania are facing in today’s world. Our recent staff research finds that new technology risks widening the gap between rich and poor countries by...

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01 Dec
Chapter News, COVID-19 News

Coronavirus: EU Commission approves contract with Moderna to ensure access to a potential vaccine

On November 25, 2020, the European Commission approved a sixth contract under the EU Vaccines Strategy, this time with the pharmaceutical company Moderna. The contract provides for the initial purchase of 80 million doses on behalf of all EU Member States, plus an option to request up to a further 80 million doses, to be supplied once a vaccine has proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19. The contract with Moderna will enlarge the already broad portfolio of vaccines...

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