Ideas on how to ensure a simpler, more effective and more fraud-proof VAT system tailored to the Single Market in the EU have been outlined in a paper published by the Commission today. The aim is to create a “definitive VAT regime”, to replace the temporary and out-dated VAT system, which has been in place in the EU for over 2 decades. The future VAT regime should better meet the needs of businesses in the Single Market and be less susceptible...

Read more

In a meeting in Luxembourg on 28 October, environment ministers adopted conclusions on 'greening' the European Semester and the Europe 2020 strategy. The conclusions recognise that a greener economy contributes to long term prosperity, and highlight the need for a transition towards a resource efficient circular economy. In particular, they underline the need for: better integrating resource efficiency in the Europe 2020 strategy, through the introduction of a non-binding aspirational target taking into consideration circular economy principles and the potential for green...

Read more

Meet Poppy, the first completely open-source, 3D printed, humanoid robot (@poppy_project). Poppy is a robot that anybody can build and program. That means it's not just a tool for scientists and engineers: the team of developers aims to make it part of vocational training in schools, giving students the opportunity to experiment. Poppy was developed in France by Inria's Flowers team, which creates computer and robotic models as tools for understanding developmental processes in humans. Dr Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, who...

Read more

Safer banks serving the economy: the European Commission welcomes the publication of the results of the EU-wide stress test by the European Banking Authority and the comprehensive assessment by the European Central Bank. Since the onset of the financial crisis, major improvements in the EU regulatory framework, the level and quality of banks’ capital and supervision have considerably strengthened the resilience of European banks. Today’s results of the EU-wide stress test and the comprehensive assessment, which represent the most intense...

Read more

Wyden, Hatch, Rockefeller, Thune: Trans-Pacific Partnership Must Protect Cross-Border Data Flows to Grow Digital Economy WASHINGTON October 24, 2014 – To ensure the 21st-century digital economy is not stifled by harmful trade barriers, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, with Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V., and John Thune, R-S.D., chairman and ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, called on U.S. trade negotiators to ensure cross-border data flows are adequately addressed in the Trans-Pacific...

Read more

European Union leaders gathering in Brussels yesterday and today agreed on an ambitious framework and targets for the EU's climate and energy policy. They endorsed: a binding EU target of at least 40 percent less greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared to 1990; a binding target of at least 27 percent of renewable energy used at EU level; an energy efficiency increase of at least 27 percent; the completion of the internal energy market by reaching an electricity interconnection...

Read more

Credit card fraud and identity theft hit millions of Americans each year. But under the President's new BuySecure initiative, the government and the private sector are taking steps to protect American consumers. One of these steps is expanding the use of Chip and PIN technology. Find out what Chip and PIN is all about -- and see who's joining in this effort to make our transactions safer. Kicking off the BuySecure initiative last week, the President signed a new Executive Order that...

Read more