The European Commission presents its vision on how European standard setting should evolve in the light of technological developments, political priorities and global trends. It also announces next steps on the Joint Initiative on Standardisation (JIS), which aims to reinforce the partnership between the European institutions and the standardisation community. From the A4 paper size to GSM technology, standards reduce costs, promote innovation, ensure interoperability between different devices and services, and help companies to access markets. Largely voluntary and industry-driven, European...

Speech by Sabine Lautenschläger, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, Bundesbanksymposium "Dialogue on banking supervision" Frankfurt am Main, 1 June 2016 Ladies and gentlemen, In 1863 the Freemasons’ Tavern in London was the scene of a lively discussion. It concerned the adoption of a set of rules which was initially only valid in England and a good 20 years later was to become very important for the whole world....

Cities get more influence in EU policies Today in Amsterdam, EU ministers responsible for urban policy have, under the Netherlands Chairmanship of minister Ronald Plasterk (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations), adopted the Pact of Amsterdam. It states that European cities, on the basis of the so called ‘Urban Agenda for the EU’, will get more involved with EU legislation, access to financing and knowledge sharing. The agenda as drawn up by the Ministers includes 12 priority themes,...

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker today released the second set of Top Markets Reports that provides the latest assessment of export opportunities for U.S. companies in 19 sectors. As part of the International Trade Administration’s (ITA) Top Markets Series launched in 2015, the report ranks future export markets within a particular industry, delivering in-depth commentary on key opportunities, trends, and challenges facing U.S. companies looking to expand their businesses and export globally. “The Department of Commerce is committed to providing exporters...

Several start-ups are chasing ways to use food waste to make other edibles. Some are aiming to quickly distribute food that is about to be thrown out. And yet others are working to use every last ounce of ingredients. Food waste, in other words, is now a platform for commerce. “I’m convinced there’s a business that’s a kind of Uber for refrigerated trucks,” said Jesse Fink, a founder of the travel site Priceline who now calls himself a food waste evangelist. The...

In the European Union (EU), household electricity prices rose by 2.4% on average between the second half of 2014 and the second half of 2015 to reach €21.1 per 100 kWh. Since 2008, electricity prices in the EU have risen by 33%. Across the EU Member States, household electricity prices in the second half of 2015 ranged from below €10 per 100 kWh in Bulgaria to more than €30 per 100 kWh in Denmark. Full text available on EUROSTAT website Compliments...

Amsterdam, 26 May 2016 Ladies and gentlemen, Let me start by thanking you for inviting me to this first edition of the Energy Fest, hopefully the first of a long series. One of the most brilliant European minds of all times, Lenardo Da Vinci once said that "people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things". By 'happening to things', Da Vinci meant questioning axioms, challenging the common wisdom, and above all daring...

The EU Commission should go on negotiating with the USA to remedy “deficiencies” in proposed “Privacy Shield” protection for EU citizens’ data transferred to the US for commercial purposes, Parliament says in a non-legislative resolution passed on Thursday. In the resolution, passed by 501 votes to 119 with 31 abstentions, MEPs welcome the efforts of the Commission and the US administration to achieve "substantial improvements" in the Privacy Shield compared to the Safe Harbour decision which it is to replace. However,...