Archive for January, 2008

 

Thatcher would have backed the EU treaty

Posted by blogarchitect on 31/01/08

The Daily Telegraph - a very Eurosceptic English daily newspaper – today published an interesting article under the above banner.
The article conclude that Lady Thatcher of then 1980s might in fact have supported the new Treaty of Lisbon, for the following reasons:
Ø [...]

Lobbying made transparent and accessible for everybody?

Posted by blogarchitect on 31/01/08

After the heated debate and consultations on the European Transparency Initiative (ETI) we are now in the phase of consultations on its prominent element - the Code of Conduct for interest representatives (consultations close on 15/02/2008). The draft code proposed by the Commission seems fairly minimalist as it quotes very vast principles of “openness, transparency, [...]

Lobbying made transparent and accessible for everybody?

Posted by blogmanager on 31/01/08

After the heated debate and consultations on the European Transparency Initiative (ETI) we are now in the phase of consultations on its prominent element - the Code of Conduct for interest representatives (consultations close on 15/02/2008). The draft code proposed by the Commission seems fairly minimalist as it quotes very vast principles of “openness, transparency, [...]

Inside Brussels X

Posted by blogarchitect on 31/01/08

Since 1986 the ECPA has been the only organisation to concentrate its efforts on training for Public Affairs excellence. ‘Inside Brussels‘ focuses this experience to help its participants understand and predict the ever-changing patterns of power in the European Union. There is no better way to understand how Europe works than to spend two days [...]

Compare CO2 emissions of power plants

Posted by blogarchitect on 31/01/08

nbsp;Carma.org is an immediate success
Carma stands for Carbon Monitoring for Action. Carma.org is a Web tool on which you can look up the carbon emissions of all of the world’s power plants. Starting from a world map you can zoom in to find the power plant locations, and then you can […]
Original post by Hans De [...]

U.S. study: carbon border tax would not violate WTO rules

Posted by blogarchitect on 31/01/08

EU policymakers who are serious about the possibility of a border tax adjustment tariff to penalise countries which do not care about climate change, should have a look at the recent report of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB). The study indicates that such measures can be justified before the World Trade Organisation.
Of [...]

U.S. study: carbon border tax would not violate WTO rules

Posted by blogmanager on 31/01/08

EU policymakers who are serious about the possibility of a border tax adjustment tariff to penalise countries which do not care about climate change, should have a look at the recent report of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB). The study indicates that such measures can be justified before the World Trade Organisation.
Of [...]

Sustainable Consumption – what incentives?

Posted by blogmanager on 30/01/08

Reducing the environmental impact of consumer products - from the provision of raw materials over the production phase to consumption and disposal - is a challenge the Commission sought to address in its 2003 Integrated Product Policy (IPP) proposal.
This European Business Summit workshop will discuss how Sustainable Consumption in the EU can be brought forward. [...]

Sustainable Consumption – what incentives?

Posted by blogarchitect on 30/01/08

Reducing the environmental impact of consumer products - from the provision of raw materials over the production phase to consumption and disposal - is a challenge the Commission sought to address in its 2003 Integrated Product Policy (IPP) proposal.
This European Business Summit workshop will discuss how Sustainable Consumption in the EU can be brought forward. [...]

A strange Franco-American meeting of minds

Posted by blogmanager on 29/01/08

I received a provocative note from my good friend and colleague, Eberhard Rhein, and with his permission, publish it below:
During their recent visits to Ryadh the French and US Presidents have called on the Saudis to lower  the oil price as it hurts American and French  families. They received a polite but firm answer saying [...]

How to make EU energy markets function?

Posted by blogmanager on 28/01/08

Although initiatives and legislative measures have been introduced since 1993, a genuinely competitive and genuinely interconnected European market for gas and electricity is still not in place. This workshop at the European Business Summit will deal with this situation, which was recognised by the Energy Council and EU Heads of State in early [...]

Greening the Economy: How can Europe Win the Global Competition?

Posted by blogmanager on 28/01/08

Europe is accountable for a large part of the world’s CO2 emissions (More than 15% stem from the EU-27). Action has to be taken to counter global warming. Thus the EU plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth by 2020.
In order to achieve this aim, the EU Commission proposed in January 2008 an [...]

The 2009 EU Troika

Posted by blogarchitect on 28/01/08

A new EU Commission takes office on 1 November 2009. The Lisbon Treaty is expected to come into force officially on 1 January 2009 but this date may slip. There is talk of a postponement until 1 November, but this would be of doubtful validity.
This gives rise to an intriguing situation relating to [...]

Transport: is Europe on the greenway?

Posted by blogmanager on 28/01/08

This Workshop at EBS 2008 will deal with the challenges to the transport sector in the EU, which ranges from urban transport to road transport and includes the rail sector, aviation and maritime transport. The transport sector is responsible for 31% of Community energy consumption and 26% of EU CO2 emissions.  […]
Original post by [...]

International trade and climate change: compatible or competing?

Posted by blogmanager on 28/01/08

With the title of this workshop at EBS 2008 we want to highlight the important links between climate change policies, international trade and competitiveness. There have also been calls to use measures at the border to compensate for the competitiveness effects of the EU’s climate change policies. There are concerns about the so-called carbon leakage [...]

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