Over the past eight years, President Obama has elevated sustainable development to a core pillar of American foreign policy.  On Wednesday July 20th, the President will host the White House Summit on Global Development, bringing together development leaders, public and private sector financing partners, civil society, diplomats, and entrepreneurs to mark our global progress and catalyze further development efforts. Building on more than a half century of global leadership, including the creation of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the...

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The Council adopted the EU priorities at the United Nations and the 71st United Nations General Assembly (September 2016 - September 2017). The coming year will be focused on consolidation and implementation of the agreements reached in the past year. These include the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the Addis Ababa action agenda of the third international conference on financing for development and the Paris climate agreement. The priorities mention that the EU remains committed to strengthening the United Nations...

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Today, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman announced the creation of a Digital Trade Working Group within the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The group will serve as a “Rapid Response” team to identify and combat barriers to digital trade and promote sound policies to advance global digital trade around the world. Led by Ambassador Robert Holleyman and composed of USTR staff with expertise in e-commerce, telecommunications, services, intellectual property, innovation, and industrial competitiveness, the group will work to...

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Every country must accelerate the implementation pace of the 'ambitious and transformative' development agenda adopted by United Nations Member States nearly one year ago, by boosting efforts to overcome persistent challenges, new obstacles and unforeseen setbacks in today's turbulent world, the UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson today declared. “Achieving the SDGs is a monumental task. There is no country in the world where all people have equal opportunities to fulfil their aspirations. Every country has poverty and inequalities to...

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This comprehensive support package is further evidence of the Commission's continued commitment to the agricultural sector across the EU. The European Commission has today presented a new package of measures worth €500 million from EU funds to support farmers in the face of ongoing market difficulties, particularly on the dairy market. The measures were presented to the Council of EU Agriculture Ministers by Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, PhilHogan: "Coming at a time of significant budgetary pressures, this package provides...

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The European Commission has reiterated its commitment to ensure the effective application of the whole range of European legislation and, in particular, the world's biggest single market of 500 million citizens. The Annual Report provides a clear picture on how the Commission monitored and enforced European Union law in 2015 and the Single Market Scoreboard reveals that barriers to the free movement of persons, services, goods and capital in the EU are being eliminated in most areas. The constructive compliance...

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Addressing the EESC Members at their plenary session today, Margrethe Vestager, EU Commissioner for Competition, argued a strong consumer, business and social justice case for EU competition policy. Citing key recent examples on energy, transport, state subsidies and taxation, the Commissioner underlines that competition drives companies to cut prices and improve products, and brings in the investment to the economy and creates jobs. “The EU is about its people. It's about coming together to find answers to the problems we...

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Bratislava (15 July 2016) - The informal two-day meeting of EU Member States’ ministers for employment and social policy (EPSCO) led by Slovak minister Ján Richter focused on social and technological challenges in the world of labour – demographic changes, migration and digitisation. Social partners at European level were also present. The population of the European Union is ageing, which means the number of economically active citizens is declining in proportion to the economically inactive. This will impact the labour...

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Today EU Member States agreed on a Commission proposal to invest €263 million in key trans-European energy infrastructure projects. Today EU Member States agreed on the European Commission's proposal to invest €263 million in key European energy infrastructure projects. The lion's share of the investment will support the building of gas infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region as well as supporting the electricity sector across Europe. Nine projects were selected following a call for proposals under the EU funding support programme...

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