January 21 marks the start of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos (21-24 January), under the motto “the new global context”. More than 2.500 world leaders, politicians, top business and opinion leaders and media representatives participate in this key event to exchange ideas and discuss global issues in more than 280 official sessions. The European Commission will be represented by First Vice-President Timmermans, High Representative/Vice-President Mogherini, Vice-Presidents Šefčovič, Dombrovskis and Katainen, and Commissioners Oettinger, Malmström, Moscovici and...

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The data-driven economy, and more generally the digital economy, is an area of strategic economic importance for the EU Member States. Making innovative use of this data is the main source of increased productivity for the EU economy. At the Commission's request, the EESC has drawn up an opinion "Towards a thriving data-driven economy", which was adopted by 213 votes to 1, with 11 abstentions at the EESC's plenary session on 21 January. In recent years, data has become extremely...

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16 January 2015 Lithuania's changeover from the litas to the euro has been smooth and successful. As of today, it is no longer possible to make payments in Lithuanian litas, the 15 days dual circulation period having ended on 15 January. No major problems were encountered and banks, post offices and retailers coped well with the extra workload caused by the changeover process and the parallel handling of two currencies. According to a Commission survey, on Wednesday 14 January 2015, nearly...

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Brussels, 15 January 2015 Countries providing high quality jobs and effective social protection as well as investment in human capital have proved to be more resilient to the economic crisis. This is one of the main findings of the 2014 Employment and Social Developments in Europe Review, which has looked back to the consequences of the recession. It also stresses the need to invest in the formation and maintenance of the right skills of the workforce to support productivity, as...

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Strasbourg, 13 January 2015 Just 50 days after announcing its ambitious Investment Plan for Europe to boost jobs and growth, the European Commission today adopted the legislative proposal for the European Fund for Strategic Investments, which will be established in close partnership with the European Investment Bank (EIB). The Fund is at the very heart of President Juncker's Investment Offensive, which will mobilise at least €315 billion in private and public investment across the European Union. This will especially support...

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Brussels, 09 January 2015 New rules applying as of tomorrow mean businesses and consumers will be able to resolve cross-border legal disputes more easily – bringing expected savings of up to €48 million each year in the EU. The rules abolish the costly and lengthy procedure, which is currently used 10,000 times per year to get judgments in civil and commercial matters recognised in other EU countries. Starting tomorrow, such cross-border judgments will be automatically enforceable across the EU. Consumers will...

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