Speaking at the UN General Assembly High Level Debate on Global Economic Governance today, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said that tax evasion costs the European Union 1 trillion euros every year and "the global bill is much higher. That is money that should be available to spend on education, skills, healthcare, and infrastructure investment in both developed and developing countries."  President Barroso stressed that the EU is taking common action on exchange of information, on tax havens and...

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Trade talks between the European Union and the U.S. won’t undermine essential protections for health and the environment, European Commission President Jose Barroso said an event today here in New York that was co-organised by the EACCNY and Bloomberg LP. The negotiations, which Barroso said will start before this summer, will target “unnecessary costs” created by differing regulations, as well as conventional trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas. “We, on both sides, will not compromise on our high levels...

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Croatia: Last Monitoring Report Concludes Country will be Ready to Join the EU The European Commission adopted its last Monitoring Report on Croatia’s preparations for joining the EU. The Commission assesses that Croatia has completed the ten priority actions identified in the previous report in October, and has shown the will and ability to fulfill all outstanding commitments in good time before accession. The Commission concludes that Croatia will be ready to join the European Union on 1 July 2013. “This...

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  “Girls in ICT Day” is an annual event—marked on April 25 this year—that focuses on the need to increase the number of women employed in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. Currently, women hold just 30 percent of ICT jobs. By marking this day, the co-organizers—the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the International Telecommunications Union—aim to empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in ICT. Stakeholders are encouraged to organize activities that help raise visibility...

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Luxembourg is convinced of the importance of the smooth and unhampered functioning of the single market, including for financial services, as well as of the necessity of sound public finances in order to foster prosperity and stability of the euro area as a whole. Luxembourg will therefore not adhere to policies that intend to renationalize elements of the single market, nor introduce criteria that are contrary to the spirit of the Treaties and detrimental to our economies. The spirit is...

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