EU Commission welcomes Parliament’s endorsement of risk-sharing instruments for Member States worst hit by the financial crisis, to contribute to investment and job creation Brussels, 19 April 2012 - The European Parliament has today approved the Commission’s proposal enabling the use of cohesion policy allocations still available to back-up guarantees and loans by financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank (EIB). EU funds will be used to create so-called “risk-sharing instruments”. The measure is intended to address the serious...

On 26 April, the Commission will organise a conference in Brussels on the enforcement of intellectual property rights, in association with the Danish EU Presidency. This Conference follows on from a Commission Public Hearing in June 2011 and a public consultation on the application of Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights. It is expected to provide further valuable stakeholder input on intellectual property policy, in the context of a review of the Directive by the Commission. Over...

Brussels, 13 April 2012 Entrepreneurship education is being increasingly promoted in most European countries, according to a new report published by the European Commission. Eight countries (Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Wales and the Flemish part of Belgium) have launched specific strategies to promote entrepreneurship education, while 13 others (Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey) include it as part of their national lifelong learning, youth or growth strategies. Half of European...

On May 8th, 2012  Commissioner John Dalli will present the key findings of the 2011 annual report published on that day concerning Rapex, the EU-wide rapid alert system for dangerous products. The findings of the report will include the trends in the number of products notified thanks to the system, the top product categories, the most active member states notifying unsafe products, and the countries of origin. The event:  Press Conference with John Dalli, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy Directly...

As part of the recent program: Property Tax Challenges – Impact on Real Estate Performance, IPTI and EACC member Don Liebman of Proskauer put together a study of Current Property Tax Burdens Comparisons and Differences Between Various US and European Jurisdictions. To review the study click here: Property Tax -EACC_IPTI.

The Austrian  Federal Minister for Women & Civil Service Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek, has recently presented a so called Gender Budgeting initiative to help achieve gender equality at a UN conference here in New York. Public expenditure often has very different impacts on women and men – whether they relate to childcare, tax, daily travel or women’s and men’s health. This according to the initiative should be taken into consideration when public budgets are being drawn up. The goal is not to...

NYC Fashion Production Fund Will Provide Needed Capital to Designers Manufacturing Their Own Clothing Lines New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) today announced that it is seeking a financial institution to operate the NYC Fashion Production Fund. The NYC Fashion Production Fund will provide loans for the production of goods by emerging fashion designers who need to fulfill a purchase order from a retailer but can’t obtain conventional financing. The fund will only be available to New York City-based...

Brussels, 22 March 2012 The adoption of this Regulation by the European Parliament and the Council is the first legislative delivery from the Commission's IPR Strategy of May 2011, 'Towards a single market for intellectual property rights'1. IPR infringements are a growing threat to the economy. Between 2005 and 2010, the number of registered cases at the EU borders of goods suspected of infringing IPR increased from 26,704 to over 80,000. The OECD has estimated that the annual loss to the...