Events to look out for
Digital Day 2018 will be taking place on April 10th, SQUARE-Brussels Meeting Centre, 08:00 – 19: 30 CET. The event brings together policymakers and stakeholders to discuss the digital future of Europe, following on the agreements reached during Digital Day 2017. Digital Day 2018 will aim to reach joint commitments to encourage investment in European digital technologies and infrastructures. You can join the debate on Twitter using the hashtag #DigitalDay18 or follow the live streaming on the event website.
EU policies for better business
Cheaper Euro transfers and fairer currency conversions in cross-border payments. The European Commission has proposed to make cross-border payments in Euros cheaper across the entire EU, including non-Euro zone countries. The current rules enable Euro zone residents or businesses to carry out Euro transactions in their own country or with another Euro zone Member State in the same way. The proposal aims to extend this benefit to people and businesses in EU countries outside the Euro zone , thus allowing consumers and businesses to fully enjoy benefits of the Single Market. All intra-EU cross-border payments in Euros would then be priced the same as domestic payments, whatever the official local currency.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updates Q&A on profit forecasts. The new Q&A provides clarification on how to identify profit forecasts in the context of prospectuses by explaining the definition included in the EU’s Prospectus Regulation and by providing examples on what may or not constitute a profit forecast. The Prospectus Regulation aims at ensuring investor protection and market efficiency, in accordance with international regulatory standards. ESMA will periodically review and update the Q&A’s.
EIB and Europlasma announce the signature of a EUR 30m finance contract for the innovative CHO Tiper project. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided a EUR 30m loan to finance the CHO Tiper renewable power generation plant developed by CHO Power, a Europlasma Group subsidiary. InnovFin – Energy Demonstration Projects (EDP), a financial product developed under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, also supports the project. The CHO Tiper project includes total investment of EUR 60m and creates 65 long-term jobs in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region of France.
Rabobank shares risk on part of its SME loan portfolio with EIB and EIF. Rabobank has shared the risk on a part of its Dutch SME portfolio with the European Investment Bank (“EIB”) and the European Investment Fund (“EIF”), thus stimulating lending to Dutch SMEs. The transaction concerns more than 3,000 loans to Dutch SME’s originated by Rabobank with a total amount of circa EUR 2 billion and will be guaranteed by the EU budget under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), part of the “Investment Plan for Europe” of the Juncker Commission.
Get involved
Consumer Law Ready: An EU-wide training programme in consumer law for Small and Medium Enterprises launched. European SMEs and business support organisations now have access to a comprehensive range of online resources to help comply with EU and national consumer law via the new Consumer Law Ready website. Consumer Law Ready is an EU-funded project which focuses on developing a consumer law-education programme for SMEs.
The European Commission is looking for experts on product liability law, with a view to drawing up guidance—including on emerging digital technologies—and thinking about the future. If you are an expert on product liability, you have until 30 April 2018 to respond to the call.