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No Patents on Beer! — 17 November 2016, 19:22 CET

In 2016, the European Patent Office (EPO) granted three patents to the Danish brewery, Carlsberg. The patents cover barley plants derived from conventional breeding, their usage in brewing as well as the beer brewed thereof. In a joint letter, several civil society organisations are now calling on Carlsberg to drop these patents. They consider the patents to be an abuse of patent law and in conflict with the interests of consumers.

EU to take bigger role in global effort to save oceans — 11 November 2016, 00:16 CET

Today the European Commission announced its renewed commitment to strengthen international ocean governance and to set out a joint agenda of 50 actions to secure the effective conservation and sustainable use of the global seas and oceans.

New Commission Anti-Dumping proposal undermines legal certainty in EU trade defence policy — 10 November 2016, 14:31 CET

Following publication of the European Commission's changes to the EU anti-dumping legislation - designed to render China’s demand for Market Economy Status "irrelevant" - Europe's manufacturing industries have reacted with a firm warning that the proposal is neither robust nor future-proof.

EuroCommerce and UNI Europa address physical and psychological risks at work — 10 November 2016, 14:27 CET

EuroCommerce and UNI Europa, the recognised social partners for the retail and wholesale sector at EU level, agreed the findings of a comprehensive project at a high-level event in Brussels today. The project included research on improved employee health and safety in the retail and wholesale sector.

EU Commission says plants and animals derived from conventional breeding should be regarded as non-patentable — 04 November 2016, 00:36 CET

In a long awaited explanatory statement, the EU Commission takes the view that plants and animals that are obtained by means of “essentially biological” breeding are non-patentable. This statement is in strong contradiction to the current practice of the European Patent Office (EPO), which has already granted more than 100 patents on conventional breeding, e.g. on tomatoes and broccoli.

EU and Canada sign doomed CETA trade deal — 31 October 2016, 00:16 CET

The EU and Canada will today sign a controversial trade and investment protection agreement that could soon be consigned to the dustbin of history, warned Greenpeace.

Belgian agreement to trigger ECJ ruling on legality of CETA — 27 October 2016, 18:38 CET

After ten days of frantic negotiations, Belgium is set to reach an internal political agreement on CETA, a controversial trade and investment protection deal between the EU and Canada. The Belgian agreement will now require the approval of EU governments, before CETA can be submitted to a vote at the European Parliament, and then formal ratification by national parliaments.

Public health groups call for EU target and action on serious road injuries — 26 October 2016, 00:08 CET

The European Union should urgently come forward with a new target and measures to cut serious road injuries, according to public health and medical experts from across Europe in a letter sent today to the president of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker.

New study shows intellectual property is good for the European economy — 25 October 2016, 23:20 CET

The European Patent Office (EPO) and the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) today published their second EU-wide study of the impact of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) on the European economy in terms of GDP, employment, wages and trade.

Social rights and entrepreneurial rights must go hand in hand — 20 October 2016, 15:31 CET

EUROCHAMBRES and its Network of European Chambers has endorsed a proposal for a European Pillar of Entrepreneurial Rights, challenging the Commission and other policy makers to match the forthcoming Pillar of Social Rights initiative with the parallel pursuit of a more business-friendly climate.

Robust EU trade defence system is fundamental to the future of industrial manufacturing in Europe — 20 October 2016, 14:18 CET

AEGIS Europe response to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council: ‘Towards a robust trade policy for the EU in the interest of jobs and growth’

EU common challenges will not be solved without SMEs — 20 October 2016, 12:52 CET

Today, at the Tripartite Social Summit, the European Social Partners met with the Presidents of European Council and Commission, as well as with the Troika of Head of States, to discuss the current EU common challenges: growth, jobs and fairness.

TECHnically speaking, France is the ‘crème de la crème’ — 19 October 2016, 13:09 CET

France will have a strong presence at this year’s Web Summit, Europe’s largest tech event taking place in Lisbon from 7th to 10th November 2016. 15 innovative French startups will be exhibiting on the Business France French Pavillion. You could call them the ‘crème de la crème’ of the current French tech scene as they were carefully selected to take part by a panel of expert judges, amid stiff competition.

UK at risk of Brexit brain drain, warns ACCA — 18 October 2016, 13:57 CET

With the UK government seemingly committed to sacrificing freedom of movement in pursuit of a 'hard' Brexit, ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has warned that the country could face a 'brain drain' of top professionals.

It’s still full steam ahead for French Rail at InnoTrans 2016 — 14 October 2016, 12:38 CET

Business France, the French national agency supporting the international development of the French economy, is organising France’s iconic pavilion at the InnoTrans Fair, an international trade show for the rail industry.

EP Industry Committee's ETS vote to benefit Europe's biggest polluters — 13 October 2016, 13:33 CET

With their vote today on the reform of the EU ETS for the period 2021-2030, the members of the the European Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee voted for measures that will benefit Europe's biggest polluters, thereby failing to support Europe's innovative clean tech sector.

Finance ministers continue to be a weak link in tackling climate change — 11 October 2016, 23:44 CET

Finance ministers met today in Luxembourg to discuss climate finance, just one month ahead of the next international climate summit COP22 in Marrakech. Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe welcomes the re-iteration by finance ministers to continue to provide public finance to tackle both the causes and impacts of climate change. But despite the rehashed pledge, EU Member States must provide much more clarity on how support for international climate action will be scaled up.

SMEs recovering across Europe, but negative impact from Brexit — 11 October 2016, 18:17 CET

The SME Business Climate Index reaches 75.5, reflecting a stable and positive situation for European SMEs. The trends in North and South Europe are similar. In the North, the countries dependent on the UK's economy have been negatively affected by the Brexit, while in the South, the negative but improving Greek situation and the complex economic and political situation in Italy have slowed down the recovery.

Updated CETA declaration shows contempt for EU citizens and parliaments - Greenpeace — 11 October 2016, 18:29 CET

An updated version of the EU and Canada's joint declaration on CETA fails to address fundamental problems with the trade deal, as the revision only concerns three minor changes, Greenpeace has said.

Facebook is the privacy villain of the year — 06 October 2016, 23:09 CET

On 6 October, the Belgian Big Brother Awards took place in Brussels. The negative prize for the worst privacy abuser was unanimously granted to Facebook by the professional jury. The public confirmed Facebook's title as the ultimate privacy villain of the year - a big majority of the votes went to the social network that is successfully harvesting and generating personal data from people all around the world.

Weak global agreement on aviation and climate change means the EU must strengthen its aviation carbon market — 06 October 2016, 18:52 CET

Today, the first ever global agreement on aviation and climate change was decided upon in Montreal. The impressive achievement in forging an agreement between 191 nations should not overshadow the fact that aviation emissions remain effectively uncapped.

Leaked EU-Canada joint declaration has legal weight of a holiday brochure, Greenpeace — 06 October 2016, 18:08 CET

Greenpeace has slammed a joint EU-Canadian declaration meant to reassure critics of a controversial trade deal between the two blocs. Greenpeace described the document as a PR exercise devoid of any legal content.

ESBA Calls for a Stronger, Standardised SME Test — 05 October 2016, 23:22 CET

Today (5 October), the European Commission, national governments and European business representatives met in Brussels to discuss the current state of the SME test, the test that should determine the effects of legislative proposals on small businesses.

Paris Agreement threshold for entering into force reached — 05 October 2016, 22:40 CET

The EU's decision to fast-track the ratification of the Paris Agreement without all Members States having formally joined has helped ensure its early entry into force. Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe welcome this historic achievement by the global community, and urges EU leaders to immediately turn their attention to the necessary steps that now need to be taken to live up to the objectives of the agreement.

Paris Agreement: After taking ratification hurdle, EU will face enforcement test — 04 October 2016, 20:44 CET

The EU is on the finishing line to ratify the Paris Climate Agreement after the European Parliament gave the green light to the European Council’s vote tomorrow. Ultimately, fast ratification will ensure that the EU can present its ratification documents to the UN by Friday.