Chapter News

Chapter News, News

January 1, 2015 is €-Day for Lithuania

On January 1, 2015, Lithuania becomes the 19th EU Member State to adopt the euro as its currency, completing the shift by all three Baltic nations to the EU’s single currency. The EU Member States that have adopted the euro constitute the euro area, and all are subject to the monetary policy set by the European Central Bank. Lithuania satisfied the necessary economic convergence criteria prior to taking this historic step: •    Price stability. The inflation rate should not be more...

Read more

Chapter News, New York Related News

Comptroller Scott M. Stringer Releases a Request for Information about Electronic Processing of Contract Invoices and Payments

On December 5, 2014, the Comptroller's Office released a Request for Information (RFI) in order to invite responses and gather information regarding options for electronic processing of contract invoices and payments. The Comptroller is seeking information regarding new technologies and approaches to inform the transition of the invoice submission, review, and approval processes from their mostly paper-based current state to an electronic solution in a secure, scalable, and cost effective manner. The RFI can be found at: https://comptroller.nyc.gov/forms-n-rfps/rfps-n-solicitations/?id=7#active. The Comptroller’s Office is considering holding a pre-submission...

Read more

Chapter News

Investing in Long-Term Europe: Re-Launching Fixed, Network and Social Infrastructure

Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs | Conference "Investing in Long-Term Europe: Re-Launching Fixed, Network and Social Infrastructure" | Rome, 12 December 2014 "Ladies and gentlemen, dear Colleagues, It is a real pleasure for me to speak in front of you today. The first day of this Conference has been very fruitful in bringing together academics, investors, and policy makers, from Europe and from the member states, around one subject: how to make long term investment in Europe happen...

Read more

Chapter News, News

Food: EU consumers to benefit from better labelling as of 13 December 2014

As of 13 December 2014, new EU food labelling rules, adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in 2011, will ensure that consumers receive clearer, more comprehensive and accurate information on food content, and help them make informed choices about what they eat. The EU Commissioner in charge of Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis said: "As of 13 December 2014, European citizens will see the results of years of work to improve food labelling rules. Key content information...

Read more

Chapter News, New York Related News, News

NYC Deputy Mayor, NYCEDC President, Manufacture New York and Salmar Properties Announce New Fashion Design and Manufacturing Hub in Brooklyn

City Investment of $3.5 Million Will Support Local Apparel Manufacturing, Emerging Fashion Designers and the Creation of Quality Jobs Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen, New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President Kyle Kimball, Manufacture New York CEO Bob Bland and Salmar Properties Co-Founder Marvin Schein today announced the creation of the Manufacturing Innovation Hub for Apparel, Textiles + Wearable Tech, an innovative fashion manufacturing and design hub in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Located at the privately-operated...

Read more

Chapter News, News

Investment plan for the EU gets backed by the Council

Meeting on 9 December in Brussels, EU finance ministers gave their broad support to the Commission's recently announced €315 billion investment plan. They also approved two measures for combating tax fraud and tax avoidance, and agreed on the calculation of the contributions to the single resolution fund. Investment plan for Europe The Council heard a presentation by the Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) on the work of a task force, established in the autumn to identify possible investment projects. The Commission's €315...

Read more

Chapter News

Council discusses data protection reform

At the Justice and Home Affairs Council, on 4 and 5 December 2014, ministers reached a partial general approach on the proposed data protection regulation. The partial general approach covers articles crucial to the question of the public sector. It also comprises provisions relating to specific data processing situations (Chapter IX). In addition, ministers held a debate on the "one stop shop" mechanism, on the basis of a proposal presented by the Presidency. This proposal tried to keep the principle of...

Read more

Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

TTIP “fresh start” means more clarity, debate, and realism, Malmström tells MEPs

The “fresh start” to the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks includes more transparency, to show EU citizens “what’s in there for them”, stepping up civil society involvement in the talks, and “ambitious and realistic” goals for EU access to the US goods, services and public procurement markets, EU trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström told the International Trade Committee on Wednesday. Ms Malmströmreassured MEPs that the Commission had already started publishing previously restricted TTIP talks documents, as promised...

Read more

Chapter News, News

Moscovici quizzed on extra time for three EU countries to hit Eurozone targets

Commissioner Pierre Moscovici was asked to account for the European Commission’s decision to give France, Italy and Belgium more time to hit Eurozone budgetary targets by Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs on Tuesday. MEPs urged that budget plan deadlines should be met and that criteria for applying rules more flexibly to some EU member states than others should be clear and detailed. Markus Ferber (EPP, DE), Bernd Lucke (ECR, DE) and Sylvie Goulard (ALDE, FR) focused their questions on...

Read more

Chapter News, News

Digital Debates: Seeking an Open, Free, and Secure Internet

Cyber threats are quickly overtaking the more conventional threats to a nation’s sovereignty and ultimately, they impact global security. To counter cyber threats and fend off cyber attacks in the post-Snowden era, European governments have bolstered defensive and offensive cyber capabilities. But, in an open society, this strategy can pose a danger to fundamental rights that are dear to the EU—including freedom of expression and the right to privacy. In an EU-funded report released November 24, the authors pose...

Read more