Chapter News

Teaching about the EU: “44% of Europeans don’t understand how the EU works”

Would learning about the EU at school help to better understand what it is really all about? On Monday 11 April MEPs debate a non-legislative report calling on member states to have schools teach more about European issues to enable people to better engage with the EU. They will vote on it the following day. We spoke to report author Damian Drăghici, a Romanian member of the S&D group, ahead of the debate. In your report you say that if...

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Member News

DOJ Fraud Section Offers Super Credit in FCPA Pilot Program

This week, the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a pilot program that extends additional “mitigation credit” to qualifying companies that “fully cooperate” in matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Under the new program, companies that self-disclose and satisfy the DOJ's expectations for cooperation and remediation can obtain up to a 50 percent reduction off the low end of the potential fine range that would otherwise be applicable to the violation. The program furthers the...

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Chapter News

Andreas Dombret Bundesbank: More painkillers, please? Why more finance is the wrong medicine or our growth problem

Dr Andreas Dombret Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank | Keynote remarks delivered at the Harvard Law School Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Europe and the US  Dear Professor Scott, Dear Ladies and Gentlemen 2016 marks the 30th anniversary of the Program on International Financial Systems. That's about the age when young people begin to realise that smoking, drinking and working late hours won't leave their physique unscathed....

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Chapter News

Speech by Commission Vice-President Katainen at the EPSC High-Level Conference “Europe as an Investment Destination”

The European economy is now entering its fourth year of recovery and growth continues at a moderate rate, driven mainly by consumption. In the near term, I expect investment to gradually pick up as well, as demand increases, as businesses put their machinery back to work, and as profits increase thanks to lower energy prices and cheap credit. The Investment Plan for Europe will also start to have a positive impact on public and private investment. Given these favourable conditions,...

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Chapter News

VAT Action Plan: Commission presents measures to modernise VAT in the EU

Today's Action Plan is the first step towards a single EU VAT area which is equipped to tackle fraud, to support business and help the digital economy and e-commerce. The European Commission has presented an Action Plan setting out ways to reboot the current EU VAT system to make it simpler, more fraud-proof and business-friendly. The current VAT rules urgently need to be updated so they can better support the Single Market, facilitate cross-border trade and keep pace with today's digital...

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Chapter News, Trade & TTIP Related

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to Travel to Germany and France

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will travel to Berlin and Paris next week to discuss areas of mutual interest between the European and American agricultural sectors. In Berlin, Vilsack will meet with German officials as well as farmers about rural economic development opportunities and to underscore the importance of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). He will then lead the U.S. delegation to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Meeting of Agriculture Ministers, which is being held in...

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Member News

Potential Duty Savings for E-Commerce Shipments

A modification of existing law resulting from the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act recently signed into law on February 24, 2016 significantly expands duty saving opportunities in the direct internet sales sector as it increases the dollar limits of shipments that qualify for duty free importation. This increase should be of particular interest to the fashion and luxury goods sector because their duty rates are high and the increased exemption level may make the provision of law a more viable tool...

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Chapter News

Benchmarks: restoring confidence in the financial markets

Benchmarks are widely used to track market developments. As many financial transactions are linked to them, they can determine who benefits from investing in a particular financial product. However, financial scandals involving benchmarks such as Libor and Eurobibor have shown that they are susceptible to manipulation.On 7 April the economic affairs committee votes on new rules to ensure the full transparency of all benchmarks used in the EU. Watch the committee meeting live online on Thursday 7 April from 9.00...

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Member News

DeVore & DeMarco Files Brief in Apple / Government iPhone Encryption Litigation

On March 3, 2016, DeVore & DeMarco joined a crucial, timely, and ongoing legal debate.  A debate about privacy and about security.  A debate about the power of the state and the power of a private corporation in the digital era.  On that date, on behalf of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, and the National Sheriffs’ Association we filed an Amicus Curiae “Friend-of-the-Court” brief in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California...

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Chapter News

Speech by Vice-President Ansip: Helping European industry to turn digital

Speech by European Commission Vice-President Ansip, in charge of the Digital Single Market, at DIGITALEUROPE's event Europe's Digital Prospects: Masters of Digital or Mastered by Digital? in Brussels Ladies and gentlemen, Industry is the main driving force of Europe's economy. It manufactures, it employs and exports. To keep up as the world turns more digital, it will have to turn more digital itself. In the future, all industrial sectors must make the best use of new technologies. Transport to telecom equipment, factories to farming, high-tech...

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