Skills shortage threat to SMEs - EUbusiness Week newsletter 805

24-11-2017

EUbusiness Week 805 top stories: Smaller businesses back to pre-crisis employment levels; UK's EU agencies set for Amsterdam, Paris after Brexit; Online shopping rules aim to end geo-blocking; EU states endorse new rules for organic farming; Not enough prevention: EU health systems report; Brussels fines seatbelt, airbag cartel EUR 34m

Publisher's Note

This week was Vocational Skills Week, with events across Europe providing opportunities to promote and recognise the importance of vocational skills acquired on the job.

But skills shortages and mismatches are having a negative impact on growth and job creation in smaller businesses, says employers' organisation UEAPME representing Crafts and SMEs. These rely for their recruitment on modern education systems adapted to the needs of the labour market. "We need to improve the bridges between vocational training and general education at all levels," says UEAPME Secretary General Veronique Willems.
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Regards,

Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness

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1. Smaller businesses back to pre-crisis employment levels

Employment levels and value added in Europe's smaller businesses rose for the third consecutive year in 2016, exceeding 2008 levels for the first time since the financial crisis, an EU report showed Thursday.
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2. UK's EU agencies set for Amsterdam, Paris after Brexit

EU 27 ministers on Monday selected Paris as the new seat for the European Banking Authority, and Amsterdam as the new seat for the European Medicines Agency, to follow Britain's exit from the EU.
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3. Online shopping rules aim to end geo-blocking

New EU rules on online shopping, provisionally agreed by the EU institutions, mean that online buyers of goods or services from another EU country must be treated like local customers.
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4. EU states endorse new rules for organic farming

EU states' representatives have endorsed a deal to overhaul existing rules on organic production and labelling of organic products, provisionally agreed with the European Parliament in June.
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5. Not enough prevention: EU health systems report

Only 3 per cent of EU countries' health budgets is spent on prevention, with 80 per cent spent on treatment of diseases, the Commission reported Thursday in a set of 28 'country health profiles'.
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6. Brussels fines seatbelt, airbag cartel EUR 34m

The Commission has imposed fines of EUR 34 million on five car safety equipment suppliers to Japanese car manufacturers in the European Economic Area for breaching antitrust rules.
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EUROPEAN LAW

Bialowieza: Poland will have to pay a EUR 100,000 penalty per day if it continues banned logging activities in the EU-protected Bialowieza Forest, one of Europe's last remaining primeval forests, the EU's top court has ruled.
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Latest news from the European Court of Justice
EU law firms
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Inside the EU Institutions

Council Watch

Environmental reporting deal - Reform of emissions trading system - Ukraine sanctions - ASEM Foreign Ministers meeting - European Banking Authority relocated to Paris - European Medicines Agency to Amsterdam - African Union peace and security meeting - Digital for development conclusions - EU to beef up cybersecurity - Capital markets union: Council adopts securitisation rules - EUAM Ukraine: mission extended, budget approved - Entry-exit system adoption
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Council ...

Commission Watch

European External Investment Plan - state of health in EU - disaster management - Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure Scoreboard - European Semester 2018 Autumn Package - Women in management - Eurostat figures: Economic accounts for agriculture, European SME Week, Sustainable Development Goals - Digital Single Market: ending unjustified geoblocking - European Pillar of Social Rights - European Solidarity Corps - women's rights - the new organic Regulation - 5th African Union - European Union Summit
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Parliament Watch

Open, independent and efficient EU administration - Finland: EUR 2.5m to help 1,500 former retail workers find new jobs - Greece: EUR 2.95m in job-search aid for 725 former retail employees - Stolen babies: MEPs urge Spain to solve all alleged cases - Prohibited fishing gear and more flexibility for EU fishermen - New rules on funding European political parties - More online TV and radio across borders - EU-wide remedies against defective digital goods - Glyphosate: MEPs debate citizens' call for a ban
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EU diary

27 Nov: 15 years anniversary of the General Food Law
27-30 Nov: Personalising your health: a global imperative
27 Nov: Rapid risk assessment for animal disease outbreaks
27 Nov: European electricity regulation conference
27-30 Nov: European Parliament Committee Meetings
27 Nov: Foreign Affairs Council
28 Nov: Care homes for older Europeans
28 Nov: 5th EASA airworthiness directives workshop
28 Nov: European Tourism Day 2017
29 Nov: Empowering postal consumers
29-30 Nov: Cedefop ReferNet annual plenary meeting 2017
29-30 Nov: European Parliament plenary session
30 Nov-1 Dec: Competitiveness Council
30 Nov-1 Dec: Data anonymisation workshop
1 Dec: EU Refining Forum
The Week Ahead
Long-term diary