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NINTH WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE, BALI, INDONESIA, 3 TO 6 DECEMBER 2013

Submitted by christian on Wed, 10/16/2013 - 16:32

The Parliamentary Conference on the WTO is a joint undertaking of the European Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Its principal objective is to enhance external transparency of the WTO and make this inter-governmental organisation accountable to legislators as elected representatives of the people.

NEW APPOINTMENTS AT EU LEVEL

Submitted by christian on Wed, 10/16/2013 - 14:32

1. Alison Rose has been appointed UK Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium.

2. Nick Haggar will take over the presidency of the European Generic Medicines Association (EGA) from Gudbjorg Edda Eggertsdottir.

3. Jacomien van den Hurk has been appointed as Director of EU Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs at PwC

4. Joost Vantomme has been appointed as Public Affairs Director to Hill+Knowlton Strategies’Brussels office.

5. Rémi Gruet has been appointed as Policy and Operations Director at the European Ocean Energy Association .

SME EUROPE AND PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTREPRENEURS

Submitted by christian on Wed, 10/16/2013 - 12:06

SME Europe (Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Europe) is the independent political network of Christian-Democrat and Conservative political and pro-business organization. The organisation was founded in May 2012 by the three Members of the European Parliament, Paul Rübig, Nadezhda Neynsky and Bendt Bendtsen. The main purpose of SME Europe is to help shape EU policy in a more friendly way. The importance of the work of SME Europe can be seen in the fact that SMEs are the key for sustainable jobs, growth and prosperity.

OECD MULTILATERAL CONVENTION ON MUTUAL ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE IN TAX MATTERS

Submitted by christian on Tue, 10/15/2013 - 14:08

With taxpayers increasingly operating worldwide, tax authorities are moving from bilateral to multilateral cooperation and from exchange of information on request to other forms of co-operation such as automatic exchange of information. The Convention, provides a comprehensive multilateral framework for such co-operation and complements other initiatives, such as the standardised multilateral automatic exchange model being developed by the OECD and its G20 partners and efforts underway in the European Union to improve automatic exchange.

MAKING THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION STRONGER AND MORE EFFECTIVE

Submitted by christian on Tue, 10/15/2013 - 11:45

The Centre for European Reform proposes the following for making the European Commission stronger and more effective: " The EU cannot function well without a strong and independent European Commission. It needs the Commission to promote the single market, ensure that everybody follows the rules, protect the interests of small member-states against large ones, and think long-term about the broader European interest. As the euro crisis has continued, the Commission has gained greater technical powers to supervise eurozone economies.

ENHANCING NATIONAL PARLIAMENTS

Submitted by christian on Tue, 10/15/2013 - 10:51

The Centre for European Reform proposes the following to enhance the role of National Parliaments. "Some of the EU’s waning legitimacy stems from its poor performance: unemployment remains high, many economies have been in recession, and leaders have quarrelled while failing to come up with convincing cures for the eurozone’s ailments. But there is also the problem of how power is held to account in the EU’s complex and opaque decision-making procedures.

STANDING UP AGAINST POVERTY AND INEQUALITY

Submitted by christian on Mon, 10/14/2013 - 19:46

Whilst other continents successfully reduce poverty, Europe adds to it. Poverty in Europe is steadily and worringly rising. It is the most vulnerable that are paying the highest price for the recession, and subsequent austerity. We are seeing more social exclusion, more working poverty, and more children growing up in deprived households.

EU MUST ELEVATE THE ISSUE OF POVERTY TO THE VERY TOP OF ITS POLITICAL AGENDA

Submitted by christian on Mon, 10/14/2013 - 17:16

Europe is sinking into a protracted period of deepening poverty, mass unemployment, social exclusion, greater inequality, and collective despair as a result of austerity policies adopted in response to the debt and currency crisis of the past four years.

THE FRENCH WAY OF ELECTING THEIR MEPs

Submitted by christian on Mon, 10/14/2013 - 13:42

Aux élections européennes, la plupart des États membres font office de circonscriptions uniques. Cependant, quatre États membres (la France, l'Irlande, l'Italie et le Royaume-Uni) ont divisé leur territoire national en plusieurs circonscriptions régionales. Il existe des circonscriptions dont l'intérêt est purement administratif ou qui servent uniquement à la répartition au sein des listes des partis en Belgique (4), en Allemagne (16, uniquement pour la CDU/CSU), en Pologne (13) et aux Pays-Bas (19). En Belgique, un siège est réservé à l'élu de la minorité germanophone.

LA MONTEE DU NAZISME: POURQUOI ET COMMENT ?

Submitted by christian on Sun, 10/13/2013 - 16:06

De 1930 à 1933, l’atmosphère en Allemagne ne prêtait guère à l’optimisme. La crise économique mondiale frappa particulièrement durement le pays et il y eut jusqu'à 30% de chômeurs. Des millions d’allemands considéraient la coalition comme un gouvernement faible, incapable de lutter contre la crise. La misère largement répandue, la peur d’un avenir plus sombre encore, ainsi que la colère et l’impatience devant l’échec apparent du gouvernement à gérer la crise, préparèrent un terrain propice à la montée d’Adolf Hitler et de son parti nazi.