Alessandro Bertoldi, Executive Director of the Milton Friedman Institute, invites the EU to revise the sanctions regime against insurance companies to reduce the risks of environmental disaster in light of a recent naval incident and oil spill off Tobago. On the 7th of February, a critical incident unfolded off the south shore of Tobago when…
China will seek to “embrace the world in its opening-up process,” says the country’s ambassador to Belgium. Ambassador Cao Zhongming was speaking in Brussels at an event hosted by the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (BCECC). The outgoing diplomat said he “appreciates” the long-time optimism about China of the Belgian business community and the “great efforts”…
Photo by Fas Khan on Unsplash There has been no improvement in the declining attractiveness of the EU as a business location, says a new report. It adds that the majority of business federations believe that the EU’s attractiveness as investment destination for global firms stagnated or declined over the past year. The EU is a less attractive investment location in…
Photo by Rafik Wahba on Unsplash The European Commission has proposed what is calls “an ambitious set of new actions” to support the competitiveness and readiness of European defence industry. It says that two years ago, Russia’s “unjustified, on-going war of aggression” against Ukraine marked the return of “high-intensity conflict on our continent.” The European Defence Industrial Strategy…
Photo by Thomas Charters on Unsplash Production in the paper and board industry suffered a second consecutive year of contraction, decreasing by 12.8%, a new report says. After a year 2022 marked by sky high energy prices, the decrease in production in 2023 continues to be more pronounced even than it was during the Covid-19 crisis (-4.7% in…
Photo by Umberto on Unsplash Negotiators from the European Parliament and EU Member States have agreed on the EU-Gigabit Infrastructure Act. This is a new law which seeks to speed up the expansion of fibre connections across Europe. The move has been welcomed by some but not so by others. Centre right MEP Angelika Winzig, the lead negotiator…
Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash EU auditors say that traineeships have grown in importance as more and more young people in the EU complete a traineeship before they get a regular job. In a review issued on 6 February the European Court of Auditors points to several challenges though. They say these include: varying definitions of traineeships,…
Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash There are numerous obstacles to overcome to ensure rail has access to the skilled labour it needs, an event was told. It was one of the key messages to emerge at the 2024 European Railway Award ceremony in Brussels. The event coincides with the EU Year of Skills which, it was said,…
Photo by Neil Mark Thomas on Unsplash TEKEVER, the European leader in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), has confirmed the successful deployment of a lifeboat from its AR5 drone as part of a search and rescue exercise. This was conducted by the Italian Coast Guard in partnership with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). With fully automatic operation, sensors on…
Photo by Andreas Gücklhorn on Unsplash Concern has been raised about the possible economic impact of the EU’s Green Deal. This came after European entrepreneurs shared their concerns about implementation of the flagship environmental policy with the EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Wopke Hoekstra. Speaking at the SME Climate Dialogue meeting, SMEunited president Petri Salminen conceded that, “The…
