Archive

Year: 2013

  • EU Cybersecurity Strategy: Threats, Challenges and Opportunities for Business

    February 20, 2013

    Increasing cybercrime and incidents results in ever growing financial and reputational damage for companies all over the world, while consumer’s trust is undermined. In view of the severe impact on the economy and society in general, the European Commission launched in February 2013 its first Cybersecurity Strategy. The public and private sector have to work together to, on the one hand, prevent business interruption, industrial espionage, counterfeiting, extortion, data theft and data manipulation, while on...

  • A horse walks into a bar….

    February 13, 2013

    Europe is the heart of gastronomy and fine dining no more, as we’ve been unceremoniously thrown off of our moral high-horse. It’s been an unbridled disaster, as day after day the horsemeat story seems to gain speed and just run and run. So what is this problem that we’ve been saddled with, I hear you ask? It turns out that some people in the meat supply chain have been horsing around and decided to introduce...

  • Revenge of the acronyms: REVIHAAP and HRAPIE

    February 7, 2013

    As mentioned in last week’s post, clunky terms, and especially acronyms, litter the Eurobubble. Though Spencer was referring to the wonderful world of ILUC, the case is no different when it comes to air quality. Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Health Effects Institute conference entitled ‘Understanding the Health Effects of Air Pollution’. Though organised to present the latest scientific findings and to assess European and North American regulatory approaches to establishing...

  • If Your Biofuel is ‘low-ILUC’ today in Europe, don’t count on it tomorrow

    January 31, 2013

    As renewed EU policy discussion around biofuels kicks in to higher gear in the European Parliament and with Member States, a dominant question revolves around what kind of so-called indirect carbon emissions are produced from different biofuel feedstocks. For at least the next decade, biofuels will be the main tool for decarbonizing transport, the only major sector in Europe where carbon emissions continue to grow substantially. However, the EU’s biofuel policy is under heavy review...

  • DG Connect pays us a visit

    January 30, 2013

    Yesterday, we welcomed Mr Robert Madelin, Director General of DG Connect, to the FH offices for a high-level roundtable debate. Mr Madelin provided his insights on the mid-term review of the Digital Agenda to around 40 senior executives from a wide range of ICT sector companies and trade associations. The event was held under Chatham House rules, so I can’t reveal the details. However, here are a few general and personal observations on the event...

  • Why Davos made me feel like a kid-in-a-candy shop

    January 28, 2013

    Davos is a nirvana for public affairs junkies like me.   On arriving, I faced the kid-in-the-candy-shop syndrome: which sweetie jar should I dip into?   Aside from the obvious keynotes (David Cameron, Angela Merkel, Dmitri Medvedev, Christine Lagarde, Mario Draghi, Henry Kissinger) which sessions should I be attending?  The session on digital infrastructure or on the role of banks in the real economy?  Or on social issues of youth unemployment, ageing preparedness or gender balance?  Or...

  • Keep Calm and Carry On…with or without the UK?

    January 28, 2013

    Last week, the UK’s future role in the EU was drawn further into question following Prime Minister David Cameron’s promise to hold a referendum on EU membership should his Conservative party be re-elected in 2015.  The outcome of such a referendum will depend to a large extent upon the UK’s ability to renegotiate a relationship with the EU that counters the Union’s current momentum towards deeper integration. But how will the Member States respond to...

  • EU Digital Agenda Mid-term Update

    January 25, 2013

    On Tuesday 29 January 2013 Fleishman-Hillard will host a high-level Roundtable debate with  DG Connect Director General Robert Madelin of the European Commission. Mr. Madelin will present an update on the EU’s ambitious 100 point Digital Agenda program and will explain what lies ahead in the remaining 18 months of the current Commission’s term. The Digital Agenda for Europe is the EU strategy aimed at stimulating the EU digital economy (the latter grows at seven...

  • Trade policy brings Christmas cheer to FH Brussels

    January 3, 2013

    In the week before Christmas we brought together a selection of Brussels’ trade policy community to discuss the EU’s future role and relevance in the in the global trade system. FH Brussels’ Senior Policy Advisor and former Counsellor at the Danish Permanent Representation, Martin Bresson took the chair on this provocative topic and invited representatives from both inside and outside of Europe to comment on whether the EU will continue to be a global trade...

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