The EU is a firm supporter of the circular economy—the practice of “closing the loop” of product lifecycles through greater recycling and re-use. As part of its efforts to incentivize this behavior, the EU presents the European Business Awards for the Environment to companies that exemplify both competitiveness and respect for the environment. The 2016-2017 awards, announced in late October, recognized six winners from the pool of 148 companies from 21 European countries that competed for the award.  “Companies competing...

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EU 2017: WE WILL RISE TO THE OCCASION Nobody can deny that 2016 has been a difficult year for Europe. When I addressed the Council of American Ambassadors back in May, the focus of my speech was Europe’s response to the refugee crisis. Since then, many things have happened on the world scene, including a referendum on EU membership in the United Kingdom with the outcome we all know. This may sound like a gloomy time to ponder Europe’s future, particularly...

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Economic growth in Europe is expected to continue at a moderate pace, as recent labour market gains and rising private consumption are being counterbalanced by a number of hindrances to growth and the weakening of supportive factors. In its autumn forecast released today, the European Commission expects GDP growth in the euro area at 1.7% in 2016, 1.5% in 2017 and 1.7% in 2018 (Spring forecast: 2016: 1.6%, 2017: 1.8%). GDP growth in the EU as a whole should...

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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker today announced the winners of the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) 2016 University Center Economic Development Program Competition. EDA is providing a total of $2,518,373 in grants to 24 colleges and universities in 16 states and Puerto Rico to run five-year programs that will leverage university assets to promote American innovation and strengthen regional economies. “EDA’s University Center program marshals the resources located within colleges and universities to support economic development strategies in regions...

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To help farmers to cope with volatile prices, the EU must develop new risk and crisis management tools and strengthen their bargaining position in the food supply chain, says a non-legislative resolution voted in the Agriculture Committee on Tuesday. The supply chain should be made more transparent and the EU budget more flexible, so that funds can be deployed faster to tackle crises, add MEPs. “I am really happy with the result of the vote. We are paving the way...

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So the day is finally here. Today, we are signing the Comprehensive Economic and Trade agreement at the summit between the EU and Canada. This agreement is an important achievement, for many reasons. First of all, it clearly demonstrates that when Europe comes together, we can shape globalisation according to our values and our standards. We reached an agreement on the EU side after some tumultuous discussions. Sometimes we need to make things a bit complicated first, in order to...

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One of the common values that unite the European Union is that of equal opportunities: all citizens should have the same possibility to improve their lives, participate in the labour market and make progress in their careers – regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. Ensuring equal access to the labour market is an important objective for Europe in order to face the challenges posed by demographic change, achieve inclusive and sustainable growth, and meet EU 2020 targets. Despite...

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Today the Paris Agreement on climate change enters into force, 30 days after the EU's ratification took it over the threshold to take effect. The new milestone comes less than a year after the historic agreement was adopted. European Commission Vice-President in charge of the Energy Union, Maroš Šefčovič, said: "Today's entry into force of the Paris Agreement, less than a year after its adoption, shows one thing: that the entire world shares a pressing sense of urgency when it...

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A LIFE-line for 144 innovative projects investing for a better environment and climate action. The European Commission has approved an investment package of €222.7 million from the EU budget to support Europe's transition to a more sustainable and low-carbon future. The EU funding will spur additional investments leading to a total of €398.6 million to be invested into 144 new projects in 23 Member States. The support comes from the LIFE programme for the Environment and Climate Action. €323.5 million will...

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The European Central Bank (ECB) has today published three new guidelines (Guidelines ECB/2016/31, ECB/2016/32 and ECB/2016/33). These guidelines provide amendments to (i) the General Documentation Guideline on the implementation of the Eurosystem’s monetary policy (ECB/2014/60), (ii) the Guideline on Valuation Haircuts (ECB/2015/35) and (iii) the Guideline on Additional Temporary Measures relating to Eurosystem refinancing operations and eligibility of collateral (ECB/2014/31). The new Guidelines introduce changes to the monetary policy implementation framework, including: First, the Eurosystem is introducing some changes to the...

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