Europe's capital markets will be more efficient and better supervised thanks to a revamp of rules for investment firms. The European Commission is today proposing a two-track overhaul to make life simpler for smaller investment firms, while bringing the largest, systemic ones under the same regime as European banks. Investment firms and the services they provide are vital to a well-functioning Capital Markets Union (CMU). Alongside banks, EU capital markets rely on several thousands of small and large investment firms...

Starting today (Jan. 3), Europe’s traders will have to contend with thousands of pages of new rules that will radically change transactions in everything from bonds to stocks to commodities. The sweeping overhaul won’t be obvious for millions of people who don’t work in the industry, at first. But under the surface it will affect everyone. The regulations are supposed to make European financial markets fairer, more competitive, and less likely to collapse into a crisis. But over time, the rules known...

Commission proposes to improve transparency and predictability of working conditions As part of the follow-up to the European Pillar of Social Rights, the European Commission has adopted today a proposal for a new Directive for more transparent and predictable working conditions across the EU. The Commission's proposal complements and modernises existing obligations to inform each worker of his or her working conditions. In addition, the proposal creates new minimum standards to ensure that all workers, including those on atypical contracts, benefit...

On 20 December 2017 EU institutions took an important step in strengthening their cooperation in the fight against cyber-attacks. An inter-institutional arrangement which enters into force today establishes a permanent Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-EU) covering all the EU's institutions, bodies and agencies. It consolidates the existing task force into a permanent and effective team responsible for ensuring a coordinated EU response to cyber-attacks against its institutions. CERT-EU works very closely with the internal IT security teams of the EU...

The electronic platform Uber provides, by means of a smartphone application, a paid service consisting of connecting non-professional drivers using their own vehicle with persons who wish to make urban journeys. In 2014, a professional taxi drivers’ association in Barcelona (Spain) brought an action before the Juzgado de lo Mercantil No 3 de Barcelona (Commercial Court No 3, Barcelona, Spain) seeking a declaration from that court that the activities of Uber Systems Spain, a company related to Uber Technologies (together ‘Uber’), amount to misleading practices...

Bracing the cold winds of November, the European Parliament Liaison Office in the UK, together with the National Farmers’ Union in Yorkshire and the North East, organised a debate in York aimed at understanding the implications of Brexit for the agricultural sector. The assembled panel represented the sectors which will potentially be affected by Brexit: from academics to farmers’ union representatives to producers and politicians. The event aimed to assess how Brexit might impact the sector and what repercussions it...

By Guillaume Martinez | EACC Paris This is to inform you that Guillaume Martinez was unanimously elected  Chairman of the Board of EACC France as of October 19th, 2017. Maurice Marchand Tonel  was nominated Honorary Chairman, after 20 years as Executive Chairman, a period during which our organization was re-named the European American Chamber of Commerce,  the network was founded in the USA and expanded thanks to all of  you, and the European American Press Club was also created both...

Denmark has the highest proportion of extremely productive companies in the EU: 42% of all Danish businesses feature amongst the top 20% in terms of productivity. According to the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) Investment Report 2017/2018 for Denmark, the country’s companies are outstanding also in another respect - nine out of ten have invested over the last financial year, making them the most investment-active businesses in the EU. The report is based on the results of the annual EIB Investment Survey...