Industria duduie!!! or how Romania records 2nd highest industry growth in the EU ???

Romania has experienced the second biggest industrial production growth in the EU in September.

A recent Eurostat release showed, across Europe, industrial production was down by 0.5 percent in September compared with August.

Looking at annual comparisons – September 2013 against September 2012 – Romania again recorded the second biggest increase with a 8.9 percent rise, again behind Ireland which saw a 11.7 percent increase.

Romania, always surprising!!!

EC fines banks with € 1.71 billion for illegal activities

The European Commission has fined 8 international financial institutions a total of € 1 712 468 000 for participating in illegal cartels in markets for financial derivatives covering the European Economic Area (EEA). Four of these institutions participated in a cartel relating to interest rate derivatives denominated in the euro currency: Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Société Générale, RBS.

The EIRD cartel operated between September 2005 and May 2008. The settling parties are Barclays, Deutsche Bank, RBS and Société Générale. The cartel aimed at distorting the normal course of pricing components for these derivatives. Traders of different banks discussed their bank's submissions for the calculation of the EURIBOR as well as their trading and pricing strategies.

Interest rate derivatives (e.g. forward rate agreements, swaps, futures, options) are financial products that are used by banks or companies for managing the risk of interest rate fluctuations. These products are traded worldwide and play a key role in the global economy.

Joaquín Almunia, Commission Vice-President in charge of competition policy, said: “What is shocking about the LIBOR and EURIBOR scandals is not only the manipulation of benchmarks, which is being tackled by financial regulators worldwide, but also the collusion between banks who are supposed to be competing with each other. Today's decision sends a clear message that the Commission is determined to fight and sanction these cartels in the financial sector.”

Check the RAPID release for more details. 

EC clears acquisition of Nokia's mobile device business by Microsoft

The European Commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving companies with a turnover above certain thresholds (see Article 1 of the Merger Regulation) and to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area.







The EC has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of most of Nokia Corporation's devices & services business (the "D&S business") by Microsoft Corporation. The D&S business mainly produces and sells smartphones and feature phones.

The Commission concluded that the transaction would not raise any competition concerns, in particular because there are only modest overlaps between the parties' activities.

More information will be available on the competition website, in the Commission's public case register under the case number M.7047.

Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) or how to wipe-out poverty in Europe?

This is a new European Citizens' Initiative that asking the Commission, to encourage cooperation between the Member States (according to Art 156 TFEU) aiming to explore the Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) as a tool to improve their respective social security systems.

The Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) does not replace the welfare state but does complete and transform the same from a compensatory into an emancipatory welfare state. The emancipatory Unconditional Basic Income is defined by the following four criteria: universal, individual, unconditional, high enough to ensure an existence in dignity and participation in society. 

In the long run the objective is to offer to each person in the EU the unconditional right as an individual, to having his/her material needs met to ensure a life of dignity as stated by the EU treaties, and to empower participation in society supported by the introduction of the UBI. 

In the short term, initiatives such as “pilot‐studies“ (Art 156 TFEU) and examination of different models of UBI (EP resolution 2010/2039(INI) §44) should be promoted by the EU.

European cool robots

The EU Robotics Week 2013 has just started!

The European Commission funds over 100 collaborative projects under the 7th Framework Programme on advanced research into robots. The projects aim at helping robots better understand the world around them through sensing, perception, understanding, reasoning and action.

Here are some examples of the best EU-funded Robotics projects:

•   RoboHow – Can a robot learn to make pancakes on its own? The project enables robots to learn on their own how to carry out tasks in human working and living environments by finding instructions online or by observing humans doing them. The goal is to develop robots that can help people in everyday activities, as well as to find out to what extent a robot can learn by itself. 

•   RADHAR – Self-Driving. Driving a wheelchair can be difficult and very tiring. As a result, the user may over-steer the wheelchair or not have enough strength to steer it. The RADHAR (Robotic ADaptation to Humans Adapting to Robots) project has developed an intelligent wheelchair that enables people with cognitive or physical challenges to independently drive around in an everyday-life environment.

•   Stiff-Flop - A Surgical Robot based on an Elephant's Trunk. This robotic arm could be used in keyhole surgery, as it is able to adjust its texture and stiffness to organs inside the human body; it can soften to get through narrow passages and then stiffen again when needed avoiding damage to soft tissue.

•   STRANDS - The Last Robot Standing Wins! STRANDS is an EU-funded project enabling robots to achieve robust and intelligent behaviour in human environments.

•   ROBOFOOT – Robots bring manufacturing back to Europe. The industry for hand-made fashion shoes is one of the important industries in Europe, which faced intense competition from low-cost countries. The EU-funded ROBOFOOT project showed that robots can also be introduced in traditional footwear industry, maintaining most of the current production facilities and help Europe's footwear industry.

I'll end with a quote from Emil Cioran: "Man is a robot with defects."

Court of Justice decided AGAINST the European Commission for the officials' salaries indexation!

Court of Justice of the European Union constitutes the judicial authority of the European Union and, in cooperation with the courts and tribunals of the Member States, it ensures the uniform application and interpretation of European Union law.

In the case open by the European Commission against the European Council the Court decided:

"The Council of the European Union was entitled to reject the Commission’s proposal... intended to increase the salaries of European officials by 1.7% in 2011."

• The story begins in 2011 when the Commission made the proposal to adjust the salaries on its employees with 1,7%.
• The Council, that is the Member States that should be paying for this indexation, rejected the proposal on the grounds of the profound deterioration in the economic and social situation in Europe.
• The Commission opened a case to the Court for the annulment of the Council's decision.
• However, this week, the Court validated the legality of this decision and mandated the Commission to submit a new proposal for the indexation method. 

So, there will be no raise given to the european civil servant's salary! 

We will be waiting for new strikes, manifestations and multiple calls for rise & "fight for our rights of European officials" shouted by the many employment syndicats flourishing in Bruxelles...see my blog post with strikes from 2012 (Greva la Comisia Europeana)


Find out more about the Judgment in Cases C-63/12, C-66/12 and C-196/12 in the press releases on the CURIA website: http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo2_16799 
Some general info on salaries of European servants are in my blog post: Some info about our salaries :)

Europe - whenever you’re ready

Tourism has an important role in restoring economic growth in Europe. EU countries account for over 39% of global arrivals, making the EU the world's number one tourist destination. 

Europe – whenever you’re ready, is a campaign by the EU tourism to highlight the diversity Europe offers travellers and tourists, at any time of the year.


Check the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Europe.whenever.youre.ready