The recently launched Business Coalition for Transatlantic Trade (BCTT) seeks to promote growth, jobs, and competitiveness on both sides of the Atlantic through an ambitious, comprehensive and high-standard trade and investment agreement between the United States and the European Union.

The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) is a forum of US and EU consumer organisations which develops and agrees on joint consumer policy recommendations to the US government and European Union to promote the consumer interest in EU and US policy making. The aim of the TACD is to provide a formal mechanism for EU and US consumer representatives to input to EU and US political negotiations and agreements as well as explore ways of strengthening the EU and US consumer view at the international level.

The trade deal between the U.S. and the EU  will undoubtedly provide enormous opportunities for both the EU and American industry. The benefits to businesses on both sides of the Atlantic will most certainly come from the elimination of tariffs, in particular in those sectors where they have been remarkably high. But tariffs alone have not been the only barrier to trade. Most benefits for the industry, in fact will mainly derive from the smoothing out of the regulatory differences that so far have been an impediment to trade.

Political and economic integration schemes have long been a staple of Latin American foreign policy. But changes in the regional and global economy since the early 2000s have created new incentives for the reform of global governance mechanisms to reflect the new constellations of political and economic power.

Regulating public policy advocacy by a specific law is a decision that should be adopted based on a comprehensive evaluation of the local political, social and economic factors. A law in itself will not provide the necessary framework for exercising a professional, accountable public policy advocacy practice unless other conditions such as transparency at the decision-making level process and clear regulations about preventing conflicts of interest and corruption are also enforced in the country.

Les services de renseignement français ont aussi des grandes oreilles qui fonctionnent à plein régime comme la NSA.  D’après le journal Le Monde ce sont les SMS, Facebook, Twitter et télécommunications en général qui intéressent la Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure (DGSE). La boulimie d’interceptions des données des espions "made in France" ne serait donc pas moins gargantuesque que celle de leurs homologues américains. Ce sont, en effet, des milliards de milliards de données qui sont stockées sur trois étages au siège de la DGSE, assure Le Monde.

The Reputation Institute has published a study that provides the ranking of 50 countries in terms of reputation. Over 27 000 consumers from G8 countries provided over 34 000 rating based on their own perception of 50 nations.

Following Romania’s accession to the EU, several legal reforms have been implemented to strengthen the rule of law. However, the high level of corruption remains a major obstacle for Romania’s economic prosperity and growth, as it impacts the country’s political and social stability and discourages private investment. Both the public and the private sectors are affected by corruption and, as such, they should engage in a joint effort to effectively fight corruption.

Registrations of Brussels-based journalists has been shrinking dramatically due to the economic crisis, a lack of public interest in EU affairs and the development of the Internet. From 1300 accredited journalists back in 2005, the number of journalists accredited to the EU is now less than 600 .With the continued economic crisis and the endless collapse of traditional media, this headcount reduction is likely to continue.

Croatia counts 1 Commissioneer and 12 Members of the European Parliament (6 S& D, 1 ECR, 5 EPP).

Mr. Neven MIMICA is the EU Commissioneer for Consumer Protection.

The twelve (12) Members of the European Parliament are the following: