Justice Ministers have today reached agreement in record time on a European Commission proposal (IP/13/750) to complete the legal framework for Europe-wide patent protection. The proposal will update EU rules on the jurisdiction of courts and recognition of judgements (the so-called “Brussels I Regulation”) and thereby pave the way for a specialised European patent court – the Unified Patent Court – to become operational. The court will have specialised jurisdiction in patent disputes, avoiding multiple litigation cases in up to...

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The Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.25%, 0.75% and 0.00% respectively. __________________ Introductory statement to the press conference by Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, Frankfurt am Main, 5 December 2013 Ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. I will now report on the outcome of today’s meeting...

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Guidelines to enable trainees to acquire high-quality work experience under safe and fair conditions, and to increase their chances of finding a good quality job, have been proposed today by the European Commission. The proposal for a Council Recommendation on a Quality Framework for Traineeships would in particular call on Member States to ensure that national law or practice respects the principles set out in the guidelines, and to adapt their legislation where necessary. Traineeships are a key element of...

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EU Permanent Representative Committee (COREPER II) on December 4 in Brussels has confirmed the Member States agreement on the Directive amending the current legislation on the harmonised functioning of collective investment funds and aiming at strengthening investors confidence. The agreement on the Directive to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities as regards depositary functions, remuneration policies and sanctions (UCITS V) enables the Council to start negotiations with European Parliament, with a view to have a final agreement on this...

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December 3, 2013 -- Today's decision marks the end of two and a half years of negotiations and allows the new generation of EU spending programmes to be implemented as from 1 January 2014. The Council today adopted/1 the regulation laying down the EU's multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2014-2020 (11791/7/13). This follows the European Parliament's consent of 19 November. Today's decision marks the end of two and a half years of negotiations and allows the new generation of EU...

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Speech by Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission, EU Justice Commissioner 25th Anniversary of the OeNB-Brussels Representative Office/Brussels | 3 December 2013 Main Messages: The way monetary policy works in the euro area today is really a model for how we should work together in our Union. The Maastricht Treaty left economic and fiscal policy at national level. We built a house without a solid foundation. And the crisis brutally exposed this fault. I urge Member States to adopt the Commission's...

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Speech by Olli Rehn, Vice-President of the European Commission and member of the Commission responsible for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro at Wirtschaftsrat Europe Symposium, Brussels | 3 December, 2013 Ladies and Gentlemen, meine sehr geehrten Damen und Herren, I am honoured to speak to such distinguished guests today and to introduce the symposium on "Europe's role in the global economic order" on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Wirtschaftsrat. Since its foundation, the Wirtschaftsrat has reminded us...

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