A unique occurrence this week: Eric Schmidt and Tim Cook, CEOs of the world’s most valuable brands (Alphabet and Apple) will both attend Startup Fest Europe’s opening in Amsterdam. Promising startups Apart from the lineup of keynote speakers that includes Tim Cook (Apple), Eric Schmidt (Alphabet, Google’s parent company), Travis Kalanick (Uber) and Nathan Blecharczyk (Airbnb), the opening day on May 24th at the Beurs van Berlage will host Europe’s most promising startups and the world’s greatest Venture Capitalists. Global startup community During...

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Less than one year into its existence, the European Fund for Strategic Investments is supporting 64 projects and triggers more than 100 billion euro of investment across the European Union. The European Commission's partner in the Investment Plan, the European Investment Bank, approved yesterday eight more projects for a financing volume of 9.3 billion euro. This takes the total of approved investment projects to 64 and already achieves almost a third of the targeted 315 billion euro investments over three...

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On 17 May 2016, the Council formally adopted new rules to step up the security of network and information systems across the EU. The network and information security (NIS) directive will increase cooperation between member states on the vital issue of cybersecurity. It lays down security obligations for operators of essential services (in critical sectors such as energy, transport, health and finance) and for digital service providers (online marketplaces, search engines and cloud services). Each EU country will also be...

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On 17 May 2016, the Council adopted new rules aimed at ensuring greater accuracy and integrity of benchmarks in financial instruments.  The regulation sets out to restore trust in indices used as financial benchmarks, following manipulation scandals in recent years. The aim is to enhance the robustness and reliability of benchmarks, thereby strengthening confidence in financial markets. Benchmark manipulation  Recent cases of manipulation of interest rate benchmarks such as Libor and Euribor have highlighted the importance of benchmarks and their vulnerabilities. The...

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Member States are making progress with reforms and addressing macroeconomic imbalances, but more is needed to consolidate Europe's recovery. The European Commission today proposes its 2016 country-specific recommendations (CSRs), setting out its economic policy guidance for individual Member States for the next 12 to 18 months. In addition to efforts already identified and ongoing at European level, this guidance focuses on priority reforms to strengthen the recovery of Member States' economies by boosting investment, implementing structural reforms and pursuing fiscal...

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As part of the Netherlands Presidency of the Council of the European Union, a two-day meeting of senior civil servants was held on the subject of cybersecurity. On Thursday, State Secretary for Security and Justice Klaas Dijkhoff opened the conference by talking with a robot on opportunities and risks associated with cybersecurity. On 12 May, over 30 private parties signed a Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure Manifesto, an initiative of Rabobank and the CIO Platform. By concluding this manifesto, the private parties...

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Since it was launched in 1991, the EU MEDIA programme has invested over €2.4 billion in European creativity and cultural diversity. It has supported the development of thousands of films in Europe and their international distribution. This year's Cannes Film Festival is a great occasion to celebrate the 25th anniversary of MEDIA, the EU's support programme for the European audiovisual industry. MEDIA-funded films once again feature very strongly in the selection: 10* of the 21 films in competition for the Palme...

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This week, President Obama and Congress helped American companies and innovators protect their intellectual property by passing and signing the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. This new law provides yet another arrow in the quiver of IP protections by creating a federal civil cause of action for trade secret theft, including the availability of a uniform, reliable and predictable means of protecting valuable trade secrets anywhere in the country. Historically, trade secrets have been protected by a patchwork...

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