AmCham EU is pleased to kick off 2015 with two new members. APCO Worldwide and Pitney Bowes Ltd’s memberships were confirmed at the latest AmCham EU plenary meeting on Tuesday 27 January. We look forward to welcoming them both to AmCham EU.

Is your company interested in becoming a member of AmCham EU? If so, please contact Stephanie Schretlen, Senior Member Relations Officer, for more information.

On Tuesday 20 January 2015, AmCham EU hosted a conference on Facilitating Secure Trade and Economic Growth- Customs and Border Security Risk Management. The event brought together over 60 participants including AmCham EU members, industry representatives and European Commission members.

The conference started with an opening address by Heike Barczyk, Deputy Director Compliance and Facilitation, World Customs Organization, who discussed among other issues SAFE framework of standards, coordinated border management system and how to ensure the security of EU citizens by providing them with genuine goods.

Click on the picture to watch our video interview with keynote speaker Heinz Zourek, Director General, DG Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission, who provided insight on the harmonised VAT reform and the need for IT solutions, benefits for the Authorised Economic Operators and the growing influx of counterfeited goods from both outside and inside Europe.

The European Commission has published its report on the consultation on investment protection and ISDS in TTIP. In response to this report AmCham EU has: co-signed an op-ed with BusinessEurope, European Services Forum (ESF), Transatlantic Business Council (TABC), and European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT), published on Euractiv; co-signed a joint statement, together with fourteen other EU and US associations and issued a press statement. 

Karl Cox, Chair of AmCham EU, discusses AmCham EU’s Agenda for Action scorecard which was launched on December 11 2014. The scorecard is an assessment by AmCham EU member companies of Europe’s performance throughout 2014 in five key areas: Building skills for the future; Driving integration to create an attractive internal market; Embracing revolutionary change for industrial leadership; Developing new models of innovation and entrepreneurship; Leading by example towards global integration. 

Congratulations to Pastora Valero, Senior Director, Public Policy and Government Affairs, EMEAR, Cisco on her re-election for a second two-year mandate as Chair of the Digital Economy Committee at AmCham EU. We look forward to Pastora’s continued leadership and commitment to the priorities and objectives of the committee.

On 11 December, AmCham EU held its flagship conference, 'Reinvigorating the European Economy', bringing together business leaders, senior EU policymakers, academics and entrepreneurs to debate on how Europe is faring in fostering jobs, growth and innovation.

The conference saw the release of AmCham EU’s Agenda for Action - 2014 Scorecard, which is an assessment of Europe’s performance in the five key action areas to enhance growth and competitiveness, as identified in our Agenda for Action 2014-2019 report.

AmCham EU is pleased to announce that PYNK SYSTEMS, a Spanish startup producing ergonomic office spaces, is the winner of the 2014 AmCham EU Youth Entrepreneurship Award. This annual award is organised in collaboration with Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Europe (JA-YE Europe) and aims to showcase young people with entrepreneurial talent. The award, which includes mentorship from a number of AmCham EU’s Executive Council members, was presented to David Mata, founder of PYNK SYSTEMS, by Eva Paunova MEP and Patrick Deconinck, President of 3M Europe, at the AmCham EU Agenda for Action Scorecard on December 11. 

This year’s mentors include: Marco Comastri, President EMEA, CA Technologies; Aongus Hegarty, President EMEA, Dell; Nigel Lewis, Vice President, EMEA Distribution Services Division, Caterpillar; Christian Morales, Vice President, General Manager EMEA, INTEL; Eric Peeters, Vice President, Emulsions, Powders and Blends, Dow Corning and Peter Ryan, Senior Vice President and General Manager for HP Enterprise Group (EG) in EMEA, and Managing Director for HP EMEA.

From 3-5 December 2014 the Presidency Group was in Riga for a series of meetings with representatives from the Latvian Government to discuss the preparations and priorities of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU. Latvia will hold the Presidency during the first half of 2015 for the first time since joining the EU in 2004. Holding the Presidency is always a challenge and opportunity and it was clear from the meetings which took place that the government is fully prepared and anxious to make progress and close several of the open files in the Council. During the two-day delegation the Presidency Group met with several key figures of the Latvian government including the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Health. Meetings were also held with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister’s office, Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Transport.

On 9 December, AmCham EU held its final plenary of the year and was honoured to welcome keynote speaker Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, who presented his upcoming priorities in the field of environmental policy, including chemicals, circular economy, biodiversityand more. The Commissioner stated that a strong economy and a strong environment go hand-in-hand, and that they are two sides of the same coin; while there are different perspectives on how to succeed in ensuring this dual goal, to do so is imperative.

He outlined the objective of the new commission as obtaining a triple A rating of the EU economy, while also ensuring a triple A rating for the environment. He also emphasised that in the environmental field Europe is clearly not starting from scratch, with plenty of legislation already in place, and that the Commission is currently in the process of assessing and simplifying this.