Dan Albert’s farm is far from traditional. There are no picturesque, rolling fields, no tractors tilling soil; there is no white farmhouse or red barn. For that matter, there is no soil, or sunlight. The farm, Farmbox Greens, is inside a two-car garage behind Mr. Albert’s Seattle home. It consists of 600 square feet of microgreens grown in vertically stacked trays beneath LED lights. The ability to grow in such a small space is the result of hydroponics, a system in...

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InnovFin: First EIB financing under the InnovFin Energy Demonstration Project programme to support the development of commercial “WaveRoller” wave energy technology In its commitment to support innovative technologies, the European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest up to EUR 10 million in AW-Energy, a pioneering start-up company from Finland which developed “WaveRoller” wave energy technology. The investment will support and speed up the commercial roll-out of European wave energy technology. This is the first project to be supported by the InnovFin...

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MEPs debate on Wednesday 6 July the best way to protect whistle-blowers. Although whistle-blowers provide an important service to society, it's not without risk as they often face prosecution. On 29 June Antoine Deltour was convicted of theft for having leaked details of controversial tax deals with multinationals in Luxembourg. However, revelations by people like him have allowed Parliament to set up inquiry committees to look into LuxLeaks and the Panama papers. Follow the debate live online. The importance of...

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European Commission Vice-President Andrus Ansip, responsible for the Digital Single Market, and Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger, in charge of the Digital Economy and Society, welcome today's vote by the European Parliament's plenary to adopt the Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems (the 'NIS Directive'). Vice-President Andrus Ansip said: "If we want people and businesses to make the most of digital services, they need to trust them. A Digital Single Market can only be created in a secure online...

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Today European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, addressed the European Parliament on the outcome of last week's European Council summit, and reviewed the achievements of the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU. The President welcomed the European Council's clear support for the Commission's political priorities and ongoing work: "I am particularly happy that the European Council adopted the Commission's agenda for the deepening of the Single Market," said the President. "I am satisfied that the European Council, once again,...

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The Commission today launches a new public-private partnership on cybersecurity that is expected to trigger €1.8 billion of investment by 2020. This is part of a series of new initiatives to better equip Europe against cyber-attacks and to strengthen the competitiveness of its cybersecurity sector. According to a recent survey, at least 80% of European companies have experienced at least one cybersecurity incident over the last year and the number of security incidents across all industries worldwide rose by 38%...

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During the visit of the College to Bratislava, Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, has offered the Slovak Government the full support of the Commission as the country launches its first-ever Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In his joint press conference with the Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, which followed today's meeting in Bratislava between the College of Commissioners and the Slovak Government, President Juncker welcomed the priorities of the Slovak Presidency, which are "in total harmony" with the...

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The Commission has today adopted a proposal to further reinforce EU rules on anti-money laundering to counter terrorist financing and increase transparency about who really owns companies and trusts. The Juncker Commission has made the fight against tax avoidance, money laundering and terrorism financing one of its priorities. The changes proposed today will tackle new means of terrorist financing, increase transparency to combat money laundering and help strengthen the fight against tax avoidance. This Commission proposal is the first initiative to...

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