The European Commission has launched a public consultation to help identify ways to simplify the Value-Added Tax (VAT) payments on cross-border e-commerce transactions in the EU. The Commission is seeking to receive a wide range of views from business owners and other interested parties before it drafts its legislative proposals on the topic in 2016, as part of the Digital Single Market strategy. Andrus Ansip, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, said: "We promised to support companies, and especially...

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NEWARK – A consortium of academic, policy and business organizations led by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has been awarded a “Getting to Know Europe” grant from the Delegation of the European Union (EU) that is designed to boost economies on both sides of the Atlantic through the expansion of cooperation and trade. Over the next two years, NJIT, through its New Jersey Innovation Institute, and its partners will organize forums on topics of mutual interest to EU...

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The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today completed the eighth review of Cyprus’s economic adjustment program supported by the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement. The completion of the review enables the disbursement of SDR 99 million (about €126 million), which brings total disbursements under the program to SDR 693 million (about €882 million). Completion of the ninth review would be expected to take place before the end of the year. The three-year, SDR 891 million (about €1...

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The Commission wants to hear from citizens, manufacturers, retailers (especially SMEs), right holders, data and cloud service providers and users, as well as all those involved in the collaborative economy. Today the European Commission is launching a public debate with two consultations: one on geo-blocking and the other one on platforms, online intermediaries, data, cloud computing and the collaborative economy. Views expressed and information gathered will help the Commission assess the need for, or prepare initiatives as part of the...

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ECB President Mario Draghi painted a somewhat downbeat picture of economic developments in the Eurozone but assured Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs that the ECB "will not hesitate to act if some of the downward risks weaken the inflation outlook over the mid-term more fundamentally than we project at present". He hinted at the possibility of adjusting the size, composition and duration of the ECB’s asset purchase programme, to add monetary policy impetus if necessary. In this year’s third...

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The environment committee said on Wednesday that Parliament's delegation to the COP 21 climate talks in Paris must call for a 40% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, a 40% energy-efficiency target and a binding 30% target for renewable energy. In a resolution adopted by 55 votes to 5, with 8 abstentions, the committee also says a share of the EU's carbon market allowances should be earmarked for climate finance and the aviation and shipping sectors should initiate measures...

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Multilingualism is central to the European Union’s cultural heritage, and the EU protects its linguistic diversity, promotes language learning, and encourages its citizens to become multilingual. Multilingualism allows people to take full advantage of the opportunities offered across the EU, from employment to culture, from living or retiring in another EU country to undertaking multinational business ventures. Now in its 15th year, the European Day of Languages is celebrated on September 26 each year with numerous events highlighting the positive...

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The Investment Plan for Europe aims to revive investment in strategic projects around Europe to ensure that money reaches the real economy. This should unlock additional investment of at least EUR 315bn over the next three years. What is the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)? EFSI is an initiative launched jointly by the EIB Group and the European Commission to help overcome the current investment gap in the EU by mobilising private financing for strategic investments. EFSI is a EUR 16...

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September 2015 The ECB has published new statistics on loans adjusted for sales and securitisation, providing more complete information on loans that were granted by euro area banks but are no longer recorded on their balance sheets. The enhanced method for adjusting loans for sales and securitisation enables a more comprehensive view of lending to the real economy originated by euro area banks, and improves comparability across countries. The flows and growth rates of bank loans to the euro area private sector,...

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