Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

Protecting public services in TTIP and other EU trade agreements

In the EU, public services such as healthcare and education are amongst the best in the world. They play a special role which Europeans value, and which EU law recognises. For that reason the EU, and individual EU countries, are required to protect public services in any new laws or policies they adopt - including EU-wide trade agreements with countries outside Europe. So all EU trade deals provide three important guarantees for public services – on regulation, monopolies and so-called 'national...

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Chapter News, News

EU Commissioner Šemeta at the ECOFIN press conference

Algirdas Šemeta, EU Commissioner responsible for Taxation and Customs Union, Statistics, Audit and Anti-fraud at Economic and Finance Ministers Council | Brussels, 8 July 2014 Before I comment on the Italian Presidency Work programme, I would like to first thank the Greek presidency for all it achieved in the tax field. I'm not only speaking about the new legislation they succeeded in getting adopted but also the groundwork they did on many files, which should bring future successes. So, thanks to...

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Member News, News

GDLSK Alert: Gender Litigation for certain Footwear and Apparel Products

In 2007, litigation was initiated in the Court of International Trade (CIT) alleging that gender and age tariff rate disparities on identical or substantially similar products were discriminatory and unconstitutional. Cases were filed on behalf of numerous importers raising identical claims and a few test cases were selected (e.g.Totes-Isotoner Corp. v. United States, 569 F. Supp. 2d 1315 (2008) ("Totes")) and the rest of the cases were stayed pending the outcome of these cases . Unfortunately, the test cases were...

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Member News, News

Pepper Client Alert: FFIEC Increasingly Focuses on Cybersecurity Awareness

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), under the leadership of its Chairman Thomas J. Curry, is increasingly focused on cybersecurity risks to financial institutions. At the end of June 2014, the FFIEC created a cybersecurity awareness Web page that assembles the key information about cybersecurity risks to financial institutions. Please note that of the six FFIEC members, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is now included as a voting member of the FFIEC, along with the other federal prudential...

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Member News, News

Getting your Digital House in Order: A Checklist of Website Legal Requirements, Part 2

In this three-part series of posts, we bring you a checklist of questions to help you tackle the challenge of website legal compliance. Are your terms and conditions of sale binding? It is imperative that online purchasers are bound by the terms and conditions of sale or engagement.  Simply making terms and conditions available by hyperlink may not be sufficient to incorporate the terms and conditions of sale into the purchase arrangements. It is generally recommended that purchasers should be required to...

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Member News, News

SUNY Global Engagement Program Seeks to place Interns with Companies in New York City – Fall 2014 Information

The SUNY Global Engagement Program in New York City is an internship program for students with interests in global issues. The program is seeking to build partnerships with non-profit international organizations interested in having high achieving, ambitious students undertake non-paid internships.  We realize how important having good interns is for many organizations. GEP helps match academically strong students with organizations that work in their area of interest.  Student applicants are pre-screened to ensure strong candidates and they are closely supervised...

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Member News, News

Austria Start-up Offensive 2014

Start-ups comprise an important success factor for Austria as a business location, because they open up new markets and growth opportunities. Young companies create new jobs, stimulate the economy and generally make it more resistant to crises. It is also obvious that company founders are confronted with numerous challenges and have to be supported as effectively as possible. This especially applies to ensuring financing possibilities.  In particular, young companies which show disproportionately high growth often face the problem of...

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Member News, News

Clipper Race Update: A magnificent home port victory after nail biting finish

Race 14 got underway as crew members waved goodbye to the New York City skyline and looked towards the warm welcome they knew would be waiting for them when they arrived in Derry-Londonderry after the 2850 mile race.  The early days of the race saw gains and losses made by all boats as they chose different tactics in the light winds that they were faced with. The crews saw air and water temperatures plummet as the fleet neared the...

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Chapter News, News

Fresh Momentum for a Transatlantic Economic Partnership

Karel De Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade at CDU Wirtschaftsrat Economic Conference, Berlin, 3 July 2014 Ladies and gentlemen, Berlin in 2014 is an anchor of political and economic stability. This is due to your "Soziale Marktwirtschaft" and the great performance of German companies and workers. I praise you for your achievements and I have listened carefully to Chancellor Merkel's convincing agenda for Germany and Europe. Indeed, we have a broadening recovery under way in the European Union. But we are unfortunately...

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Chapter News, News

Have your say on the future of science: public consultation on Science 2.0

The European Commission has today launched a public consultation on ‘Science 2.0’, in order to gauge the trend towards a more open, data-driven and people-focused way of doing research and innovation. Researchers are using digital tools to get thousands of people participating in research, for example by asking them to report if they catch flu in order to monitor outbreaks and predict possible epidemics. Scientists are being more open too: sharing their findings online at an early stage, comparing...

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