Tag: European Commission
To truly debate Europe’s value, focus on what it has done, does and should do for people
We are a mere 3 weeks from European Parliament elections. And times are intense. Media coverage is filled with debates about Brexit, the rise of populism and Euroscepticism. It is precisely about that I worry. There seems to be very...
Collective redress for European consumers – yes, we can
I was sitting back in a train from Strasbourg to Brussels in early spring 1998. Looking at the landscape in a train often gives you the distance you need to analyse something happening in your life. I was a young...
How Google is eroding consumers’ freedom to choose
Google hit the headlines last year when the European Commission fined the tech giant €2.42 billion for breaching EU antitrust rules. It has been argued the European Commission has over-stepped the line here. After all, if people like and use...
Fuzzy maths or how the Commission solves ‘costly’ chemicals laws
The European Commission is running EU chemicals laws through its REFIT machine. REFIT sounds like a strenuous fitness regime for overweight risk managers, right!? It’s not. Instead, it is a Commission programme that looks to streamline EU laws – a...
Did TTIP push the EU to scrap precaution on endocrine disruptors?
Last month, the European Commission broke a promise it had made to you and all other EU citizens. The promise? That the EU will not trade away the ’precautionary principle’ to strike a trade deal with the United States (known...
A trans fat-free future
You’ve probably heard of saturated fats in butter, omega 3 in fish, healthy fats in olive oil. But have you ever heard of trans fatty acids (TFAs)? Also called ‘trans fats’ [1], they can hide in processed foods such as...
Regulators and consumer organisations – less me and more we
Without rules, consumers are at the mercy of traders. The same applies if the rules aren’t enforced. European Commissioner Věra Jourová, in charge of justice and consumer affairs, wants to see a big change in this area calling for proper...
Will the EU get out of first gear on emissions cheating?
It’s now over half a year since a US agency discovered ‘defeat devices’ in Volkswagen cars to get around air pollution rules. Following the revelations, European decision makers scrambled to act. Now the question is whether long overdue EU measures will...
Listen up European Commission! Parliament issues strong message on services trade deal
Unnoticed by most, the European Union is negotiating a major agreement on trade in services. It brings together 22 countries plus the EU, and lines up huge players including the United States, Japan and Canada. Its aim is to liberalise...
From ISDS to ICS: Still a long way to go
Following a heated debate, the European Commission has finally recognised the risks inherent in the proposed Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): namely that it lacks transparency and that its arbitrators are prone...