European Commission - Daily News
Daily News 23 / 02 / 2016
Brussels, 23 February 2016
Investment Plan for Europe: €2 billion in fresh loans for 20,000 Spanish businesses
The European Investment Fund (EIF) and Compañía Española de Reafianzamiento (CERSA) – part of
the Spanish Ministry of Industry - have signed the first InnovFin and COSME counter-guarantee
agreements in Spain. These transactions benefit from the support of the European Fund for Strategic
Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Investment Plan for Europe, and they are expected to trigger
nearly €2 billion in fresh loans. European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for
Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: "Both EFSI deals signed in Madrid are really
positive for small, innovative companies, and for the Spanish economy. The Investment Plan is already
bearing fruit in Spain and I expect many more investment projects and SME financing agreements in
Spain in the coming months." (For more information see here or contact Annika Breidthardt – Tel.:
+32 229 56153; Siobhán Millbright – Tel.: + 32 229 57361)
Eurobarometer: The role of the euro in international trade
The European Commission published today a Flash Eurobarometer on "Possible obstacles to using the
euro in international trade" as perceived by companies in France, Germany, Italy and the UK in the
aircraft and shipbuilding, energy, financial services, and electrical and mechanical engineering
industries. The survey confirms that the euro is widely used by European firms in their invoicing
practices with nearly eight out of ten companies invoicing more than 75% of their export in euro. Two
thirds of the surveyed firms in France, Germany and Italy said they did not use any other currency for
export invoicing than the euro. If companies did use other currencies, this was mostly due to client
preference and the important role of the US dollar in global finance. Also, firms' trade invoicing
practices appear not to be markedly affected by the European sovereign debt crisis, with around four
fifths of the companies saying the crisis had no effect on their use of the euro in trade invoicing. The
Flash Eurobarometer survey was conducted to feed into the Commission report on "Invoicing
currencies in International Trade – Drivers and Obstacles to the Use of the Euro" which was discussed
by euro area Finance Ministers on 11 February 2016 and is also published today. The report found no
obvious evidence of widespread concerns in any economic sector for obstacles at micro-level that could
limit the use of the euro for trade invoicing. (For more information (Annika Breidthardt – Tel.: +32 229
56153; Audrey Augier – Tel.: + 32 229 71607)
EU and Brazil to work together on 5G mobile technology
This afternoon, Commissioner Oettinger, in charge of the Digital Economy and Society, and Brazilian
Minister of Communications André Figueiredo, will sign an agreement to work together on the
development of 5G mobile technology. In the future, everybody and everything will use 5G. By 2020,
there will be 26 billion connected devices and 70 percent of people will own a smartphone. 5G will be
the backbone of the EU Digital Single Market, industries of the future, modern public services and
innovative applications such as connected cars, smart homes or mobile health services. To face this
global challenge, the EU wants to join forces with Brazil to strengthen cooperation in this strategic area
and to make sure that 5G does not develop in silos at the international level. The signing ceremony
takes place at 13.00 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (press release to be available in
English, Portuguese, Spanish, German and French). Both Vice-President Ansip, responsible for the
Digital Single Market, and Commissioner Oettinger are at the Mobile World Congress to highlight EU
digital priorities. Yesterday, Vice-President Ansip gave a keynote speech on "Mobile as the foundation
for digital identity". He said: "We have already started to prepare the ground for future technology
advances, with our proposal to allocate new spectrum within the 700 MHz band for wireless broadband
services. It will allow 4G mobile services to be rolled out more cost-efficiently while we work together
on 5G to become a widespread reality in Europe". Commissioner Oettinger has delivered several
speeches on 5G. He said: "Our 5G action plan for Europe needs eventually to cover all sectors if we are
to secure our leadership in 5G technologies, deploy new networks in time and most importantly
contribute to the digitalisation of European industry and society". (The Commissioner's speeches/blog
can be found here). (For more information: Nathalie Vandystadt – Tel.: +32 229 67083; Marie Frenay
- Tel.: +32 229 64532)
Commissioners Navracsics and Thyssen will debate the forthcoming Skills Agenda with
Education Ministers
Education Ministers will tomorrow debate the forthcoming Skills Agenda, which the Commission will
present later this year to encourage the development of skills required both on today's labour market
and in the long term. Commissioners Tibor Navracsics, responsible for Education, Culture, Youth and
Sport, and Marianne Thyssen, in charge of Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, will
represent the Commission in the debate. Commissioner Navracsics said: "While employers complain
about not finding enough people with the right skills, five million young people are unemployed. This
situation calls for a Europe-wide effort to equip young people with the skills they need for a constantly
changing job market. We need a closer relationship between schools and businesses, and we have to
foster a broader set of horizontal skills, both through training and education." Commissioner Thyssen
said: "Skills are a high priority for this Commission. Urgent action is needed to make sure that our
workforce has the skills needed to keep pace with a fast-changing labour market. The upcoming EU
Skills Agenda will tackle this challenge." Education Ministers will also take stock of progress made after
their declaration in Paris last March: following the terrorist attacks, they committed to strengthening
social inclusion and fundamental values through education. The November attacks further underlined
the need to act against youth radicalisation.Finally, Ministers are set to call for increased investment in
education and training in order to promote economic growth, employment and social inclusion; this will
constitute the Education Ministers' contribution to the European Semester. The Council will be followed
by a press conference which can be followed here. (For more information: Nathalie Vandystadt - Tel:
+32 229 67083, Axel Fougner +32 229 13213)
European Commission welcomes entry into force of new insurance rules
The European Commission welcomes today's entry into force of the Insurance Distribution Directive
(IDD) which aims to create a level playing field between insurance distributors across the European
Union (IP/15/5293). It will guarantee that customers get the same standards of choice and service
when buying insurance, regardless of the Member State in which the insurance was bought. The
Directive will ensure appropriate standards of transparency by setting out the necessary information to
be provided to consumers before they sign up to an insurance contract. There are also specific rules for
the distribution of insurance-based investment products in order to give consumers comparable levels
of protection when investing their savings. Finally, it clarifies procedures for cross-border business and
contains rules for the supervision and sanctioning of insurance distributors. Today's Directive is part of
a package of measures aimed at improving consumer protection. It updates previous legislation in the
area (Insurance Mediation Directive, 2002) and complements other rules on the sale of investment
products (MiFID II) and packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPS). Member
States now have 24 months to transpose its provisions into national law. For further information, see
here. (For more information: Vanessa Mock - Tel.: +32 229 56194; Letizia Lupini - Tel.: +32 229
51958)
Mergers: Commission clears acquisition of European budget hotel chain by PAI Partners
The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of B&B Hotels
(France), by PAI Partners, of France. B&B Hotels manages and operates budget hotels, serving both
business and leisure travellers, in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic. PAI
Partners is a private equity firm which manages and advises private equity funds which in turn control
companies active in sectors such as business services, food, consumer goods, general industrials as
well as health care. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise
competition concerns, in particular because the Parties are not active in the same markets. The
transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available
on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.7931.
(For more information: Ricardo Cardoso – Tel.: +32 229 80100; Carolina Luna Gordo – Tel.: +32 229
68386)
Defence: Group of Personalities presents recommendations on defence research
President Juncker's political guidelines set the objective of making the EU a stronger global actor.
Today's complex security challenges require a competitive and efficient defence and technological
industrial base, which in turn entails more investment in research and innovation. Against this
backdrop, in March 2015 the Commission set up a high-level group of personalities to advise on how
the EU can support research related to Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). At its third and
final meeting in Brussels today, the group of politicians, academics, think tankers and defence
company CEOs presented its final recommendations to the chair of the group, Commissioner
Elżbieta Bieńkowska, and HRVP Federica Mogherini. Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for
Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, said “We need more research and innovation to
help Europe obtain cutting-edge defence and security
capabilities." Federica Mogherini added: "Europe needs the technological capacity to be a strong
partner in global security." The findings of the report will feed into the Commission's work on a
"Preparatory Action" - a term used to describe the testing of a new policy approach requiring limited
existing financial resources. A Preparatory Action for CSDP-related research outside Horizon 2020 was
already announced in the 2013 Communication on defence and security and confirmed by
the European Council conclusions of June 2015. The Commission will also consider the group's
recommendations in the context of the European Defence Action Plan. Due later in 2016, the Action
Plan will develop a general framework for stronger cooperation in defence to improve access to
technologies and innovation and make Europe's defence sector more competitive. (For more
information: Lucia Caudet – Tel.: +32 229 56182; Heli Pietila – Tel.: +32 229 64950)
Easy, transparent, secure: public consultation results indicate how digital public services
should look like in the EU
The Commission today published the first results of its public consultation on how to boost digital
public services in the EU. The survey focused on the next EU eGovernment Action Plan for the period
2016-2020, an initiative for a Digital Single Market. The Action Plan will encourage modernising public
administrations, connect them across borders and facilitate easy and efficient interaction with people,
organisations and businesses. More than 80% of respondents to the public consultation, mainly
individual citizens, highlighted that they expect e-government services to be accessible to all and
transparent. They also consider that public services should guarantee that they fully protect personal
data. 86% of respondents consider the 'once-only' principle as an important practice: people,
organisations and businesses should be able to provide information to a public administration only
once. The aim is to cut red tape so that users do not have to submit the same data and fill in the
same forms again and again. This would also encourage public administrations to adopt more
efficient systems. A full analysis of the public consultation will be published by the end of March and
the Commission will present its eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 in April 2016. More information
can be found here. (For more information: Nathalie Vandystadt – Tel.: +32 229 67083; Marie Frenay Tel.: +32 229 64532)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Istanbul High level summit: Commissioner Mimica meets with Somali President
Commissioner for International development and Cooperation, Neven Mimica, will today attend the
Somalia High Level Partnership Forum co-organised by the Federal Government of Somalia, the United
Nations and Turkey. This is the third and last Forum at ministerial level within the framework of the
New Deal Compact for Somalia (essentially a 'Compact' or agreement between the recipient country
and the donor community, to guide a partnership between all the parties to transition the country out
of fragility). The objective of the Forum is to review progress made last year in the implementation of
the Compact, address challenges and consider the ways to extend the partnership with Somalia beyond
2016. Commissioner Mimica will make a keynote speech at the forum. He will also meet with the
President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. The main objective of this meeting is to underline the
importance of the continuation of political processes; to urge for significant reforms in the security
sector, and the need to agree on post-Compact working arrangements between Somalia and the donor
community. "2016 should be the year for Somalia to take again full ownership of the country",
Commissioner Neven Mimica stresses. "All partners of Somalia should respect and support this
process through the transparent and accountable political hand-over." Commissioner Mimica's speech
will be available here. (For more information Alexandre Polack - Tel.: +32 229 90677; Sharon Zarb –
Tel.: +32 229 92256)
MEX/16/394