The European American Chamber of Commerce (EACC) and the International Property Tax Institute (IPTI) are pleased to announce they have exchanged memberships with one another and are planning to develop joint programs and educational seminars to the benefit of their respective members and others who use their services. IPTI is an independent, not-for-profit organization which utilizes the expertise of its world wide network of members to assist governments, taxpayers, professionals and academics in obtaining better knowledge and understanding of the...

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Multi-year research effort to improve supply, efficient use, and recycling of rare earths and other critical materials to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign sources May 31, 2012, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced plans to invest up to $120 million over five years to launch a new Energy Innovation Hub, establishing a multidisciplinary and sustained effort to identify problems and develop solutions across the lifecycle of critical materials. Rare earth elements and other critical materials have unique chemical...

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The financial crisis highlighted that public authorities are ill-equipped to deal with ailing banks operating in today's global markets. In order to maintain essential financial services for citizens and businesses, governments have had to inject public money into banks and issue guarantees on an unprecedented scale: between October 2008 and October 2011, the European Commission approved €4.5 trillion (equivalent to 37% of EU GDP) of state aid measures to financial institutions1. This averted massive banking failure and economic disruption,...

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Siim Kallas, European Commission Vice-President responsible for transport and mobility, welcomed the efforts of the Danish Presidency and the outcome of today's Transport Council reaching a partial general approach on the initiative known as 'Connecting Europe Facility'. "The establishment of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is one of the key initiatives of the Commission in the context of the proposed package for delivering sustainable growth and jobs", said Kallas."I think this text presents a delicate balance within the Council...

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The European Commission and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration have agreed to recognize each other's air cargo security regimes, eliminating the need for costly duplication of security controls.  "We are getting rid of duplication of security controls, while preserving high levels of security," said Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for transport. "This is a big step forward and it will have a major business impact. Air freight is by definition naturally urgent. Cutting out the duplication of...

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As published in The Economist: May 30th 2012, 16:13 by J.S. | LONDON ONCE in a while an opinion poll throws up an insight that is very revealing; yesterday it was the Pew Global survey of European countries. Among the usual questions about attitudes to the euro and the European Union, people in eight nations (Britain, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Poland and Spain) were asked which country in the European Union is the hardest-working. The Greeks ignored the obvious answer...

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SEC approves amendments to align FINRA rules with statutes that invalidate predispute arbitration agreements for whistleblower disputes. read on

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Speaking at the European Parliament's Workshop on Transatlantic Economic Relations, European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht called for the EU and the US to seek "a new, comprehensive transatlantic agreement that covers all relevant economic issues." Broad trade liberalization across the Atlantic would help economic recovery, said Commissioner De Gucht, and effective regulatory cooperation would further reduce costs because companies would not have to comply with different requirements that have the same objectives."Our remit is to look at all...

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Writing under the headline "EU and US - Strategic Partners in Peace and Security" in an op-ed in The Hill, João Vale de Almeida, Head of the European Union Delegation to the U.S., notes that "thousands of EU personnel are currently staffing 13 active peace-keeping missions around the world in fragile states." Ambassador Vale de Almeida writes that EU missions help train police in Afghanistan, establish the rule of law in Iraq, and contribute to Kosovo's efforts to develop an...

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EUROstat just released a report on Taxation trends in the European Union, the report contains a detailed statistical and economic analysis of the tax systems of the Member States of the European Union, plus Iceland and Norway, which are Members of the European Economic Area. The data are presented within a unified statistical framework (the ESA95 harmonised system of national and regional accounts), which makes it possible to assess the heterogeneous national tax systems on a fully comparable basis. The...

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