Frankfurt, 2. März 2018 – Zur Ankündigung von US-Präsident Trump, globale Zölle auf Stahl- und Aluminiumimporte zu erheben, sagt VDMA-Hauptgeschäftsführer Thilo Brodtmann:

„Die von US-Präsident Trump angekündigten Strafzölle auf Stahl- und Aluminiumimporte sind für alle Seiten schädlich. Denn sie führen einerseits zu höheren Preisen auf dem amerikanischen Markt und senken damit die internationale Wettbewerbsfähigkeit der lokalen Industrie. Zum anderen könnte die drohende Spirale aus wechselseitigen Strafzöllen am Ende zu einem weltweiten Handelskrieg führen. Natürlich müssen Staaten ihre Wirtschaft vor unfairen Dumpingpraktiken schützen können. Die ergriffenen Maßnahmen müssen aber immer im Einklang mit den WTO-Regeln stehen. Dies ist bei den von Präsident Trump geplanten Strafzöllen aber nicht der Fall. Denn die US-Regierung stützt sich hier auf einen Paragraphen im US-Handelsrecht aus dem Jahr 1962. Eine mögliche EU-Gegenreaktion ist unter diesen Umständen grundsätzlich nachvollziehbar, sie muss jedoch zwingend WTO-kompatibel sein.“

Der VDMA vertritt mehr als 3.200 Mitgliedsunternehmen des mittelständisch geprägten Maschinen- und Anlagenbaus. Mit 1,35 Millionen Erwerbstätigen im Inland und einem Umsatz von 224 Milliarden Euro (2017) ist die Branche größter industrieller Arbeitgeber und einer der führenden deutschen Industriezweige insgesamt.

VDMA European Office
Diamant Building 
Boulevard A. Reyers 80
B - 1030 Brüssel 
Tel. + 32 2 706 8205, Fax + 32 2 706 8210
E-Mail european.office@vdma.org
Internet www.vdma.org 
Präsident: Carl Martin Welcker
Hauptgeschäftsführer: Thilo Brodtmann
Vereinsregister beim Amtsgericht Frankfurt Nr. VR4278

The European associations representing manufacturers of medicinal products, parallel distributors, healthcare distributors and pharmacists welcome pan-European efforts by the Heads of Medicine Agencies(1), the European Medicines Agency, the Council(2) and the European Commission(3) to address medicine shortages. Supply chain stakeholders believe that the long-term resolution of medicines shortages is dependent upon collaborative and unified actions. We therefore call for the inclusion of the supply chain actors in the abovementioned initiatives organized by Governments and the regulatory community.

Ahead of the Bulgarian Presidency event ‘Health as the Real Winner: Presidency conference on options to provide better medicines for all’ on 6 March in Sofia, supply chain stakeholders call for their greater involvement in discussions about medicines shortages. Specifically, supply chain stakeholders wish to make the Health Ministers aware of an existing collaboration on this crucial issue, created with the objective of helping to mitigate the impact of shortages. Furthermore, supply chain stakeholders strongly believe that the input, perspectives and experience of the variety of stakeholders affected by the issue of shortages needs to be sought and taken on board to reach best-informed conclusions.

The supply chain partners have set up an informal working group in 2015 and published a set of recommendations in early 2017(4) calling for greater transparency and availability of medicines shortage data, early detection and assessment of potential shortages, consistency of reporting, increased access to the information available across all parts of the supply chain, improved data infrastructure, and collaborative stakeholder governance processes.

The Associations’ statement is part of their wider commitment to tackling the increasing problem of shortages across the European Union, having a significant impact on patients, health professionals, healthcare systems and manufacturers and distributors. 

(1) HMA/EMA Task Force on Availability of authorised medicines for human and veterinary use (TF AAM) http://www.hma.eu/522.html

(2) Health as the Real Winner: Presidency conference on options to provide better medicines for all https://eu2018bg.bg/en/events/283 

(3) Commission Expert Group on Safe and Timely Access to Medicines for Patients ("STAMP") https://ec.europa.eu/health/documents/pharmaceutical-committee/stamp_en

ENDS

• The Association of the European Self-Medication Industry (AESGP) is the official representation of manufacturers of non-prescription medicines, food supplements and self-care medical devices in Europe. AESGP was founded in 1964 to contribute to the improvement of responsible self-medication at the European level and to ensure that the value of responsible self-care is recognised in pharmaceutical, food and health matters. http://www.aesgp.eu/
• The European Association of Euro-Pharmaceutical Companies (EAEPC) is the representative voice of pharmaceutical parallel distribution in Europe. Through national association or individual company membership it encompasses more than 100 companies from 23 countries in the European Economic Area (EEA). The EAEPC’s primary aims are to safeguard the free movement of medicines, as laid down in the EU treaty, and to counteract any attempts to restrict the freedom of choice for the consumer through trading patterns in breach of European competition law. The Association believes that free trade will lead to improvements in health standards through the provision of innovative medicines at lower cost, benefiting statutory healthcare systems, other third-party payers, and the public as both patients and taxpayers, as well as assisting the EU to achieve its objective of a single, internal market. More information www.eaepc.org
• The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) represents c. 21,000 hospital pharmacists across 35 European countries. More information about its activities in respect to medicines shortages is available at http://www.eahp.eu/practice-and-policy/medicines-shortages
• The European Industrial Pharmacists Group (EIPG) is a European association representing the national, professional organizations of pharmacists employed in the pharmaceutical or allied industries of the Member States of the European Union, the European Economic Area, or European countries having a mutual recognition agreement with the European Union on compliance control of regulated medicines. https://eipg.eu/

Brussels, February 28th - Ireland’s energy minister Denis Naughten, Seán Kelly MEP and senior representatives from DG Energy, EDF and EirGrid will join EU-Sysflex on Monday for the Brussels launch of the EU-funded consortium.

The event takes place on Monday, March 5th at 18:00 in the European Parliament in Brussels and will include a discussion on the key challenges facing EU-Sysflex over the coming years.

Established in 2017, EU-SysFlex is a consortium of European energy companies, led by Ireland’s electricity grid operator EirGrid. It has been awarded over €20 million by the EU to fund research into the deployment of renewable energy.

Its aim is to identify issues associated with integrating large amounts of renewable energy; provide practical assistance to power system operators across Europe; and create a long-term roadmap to facilitate the large-scale integration of renewable energy.

The European Union has set out ambitious plans for greener and a more decarbonised Europe by increasing the levels of renewable energy.

The project involves 34 organisations from 15 countries across Europe and has an overall budget of €26 million. It will run until 2021.

It receives funding under Horizon 2020, the EU’s €80 billion research and innovation programme. EirGrid is the overall project co-ordinator, while French electricity group EDF acts as technical co-ordinator.

The event will be moderated by EU-SysFlex project partner Euractiv. Vera Paiva Da Silva, Program Director, Electricity Systems and Markets, will represent EDF. Robin McCormick, SONI general manager and Director of Operations, Planning and Innovation, will represent EirGrid Group.

Beside impacting nearly all other aspects of everyday’s life, new technologies are also changing the financial industry and the way consumers and firms access financial services.

But while technological innovation in finance is not new, investment in technology and the pace of innovation increased significantly in recent years, on a very wide array of issues ranging from social networks, artificial intelligence, machine learning, mobile applications, distributed ledger technology (DLT), cloud computing or  big data analytics. FinTech gives also rise to new services and business models, involving the whole financial sector.

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are an example of Blockchain application, representing a new way for organisations to raise capital, and emerging as an alternative to the traditional models of startup investment and e-commerce growth. Like an Initial Public Offering (IPO), an ICO can be used to raise funds, but unlike an IPO, it is less familiar to regulators. In an ICO, blockchain technology enables the issuance of virtual coins -or tokens in exchange for a cryptocurrency payment. ICOs recently gained increasing attention from investors, businesses, media and regulators, and became popular, because of the ease with which they can be used by businesses to obtain new, - and as some argue- more global and democratic public funding, with less complexity and greater speed than traditional methods. However, like all pioneering new fields, they are not without risks and ethical issues to consider.

At international level, FinTech is a priority area for the G20, and the European Commission is about to publish its  Action Plan on Fintech, which entails as series of legislative and non-legislative actions to be pursued a short medium and long term.

Finance professionals and professional accountants will need to adapt to the new Fintech, Blockchain and ICOs landscapes to be able guide their clients and organisations seeking funding. They thus need to maintain an awareness and understanding of the underlying issues, including tax and compliance laws.

With this in mind, ACCA and EY are organising a joint conference to discuss the latest policy development on Fintech as well as risks and opportunities of ICOs, which are at the forefront of emerging technology in blockchain and distributed ledgers.

RSVP: by 13 March to cecile.bonino@accaglobal.com

Draft agenda

14.20h Registration and coffee

14.30h Welcome speech by Maggie McGhee, Director of Professional Insights, ACCA

14.40h Key note speech, Elina Melngaile, Member of Cabinet of Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis, tbc

14.50h Panel discussion on Fintech and Blockchain policy developments and next steps, moderated by Elizabeth Krahulecz, Head of EMEIA Public Policy Brussels Office

• Delphine Leroy, Team leader of the Fintech team, DG FISMA
• Marcello Topa, Chairman of the EBF Blockchain Task Force and Director, EMEA Market Policy & Strategy Citi - Markets and Securities Services
• Ken Timsit, CEO, ConsenSys France
• Fabian Vandenreydt , Executive Chairman, Bhive, tbc

16.00h Q&As

16.20h coffee break

16.40h Panel 2 Initial Coin Offering (ICO):  a new way to raise capital? moderated by Narayanan Vaidyanathan, head of business futures, ACCA

• Kiril Bensonoff,  blockchain investor and partner at Caviar
• Eva Kaili, MEP
• Frank Guiader, Head of Fintech, Innovation and Competitiveness, Autorité des Marchés Financiers
• Anne Choné, Senior Risk Analysis Officer, Innovation and Products Team, European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

17.40h Q&As

17.55h Concluding remarks,  Alessandro Cenderello, Partner EY

18.00h Cocktail reception

Cecile Bonino

Head of EU Affairs

ACCA
CBI business house
14 rue de la Science
BE-1040 Brussels
Tel:+32 (0) 2 286 11 37
Mob: +44 (0) 7809595008
www.accaglobal.com

Follow us on Twitter @ACCAViews

A detailed summary of the project can also be found here: http://www.etrma.org/uploads/Modules/Documentsmanager/drives_visual-final2.pdf ;

Five months after Alstom and Siemens Mobility announced their intention to merge their railway transport and mobility activities, the level of uncertainty concerning the social and industrial consequences of the intended merger remains unacceptably high. Therefore, trade unions defending both Alstom and Siemens Mobility’s workers from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom met on 14 February under the auspices of industriAll Europe in Brussels to reiterate their joint commitment to defend the future of their jobs and industry

There will be no ‘European champion of mobility’, as the two managements put it, unless the social dimension comes first!

• Secure all jobs and all European sites in all countries by the opening of negotiations with trade unions as soon as possible; 
• Secure the innovation capacities of all sites by developing R&D programmes, investment plans as well as workers’ skills and qualifications;
• Provide workers’ representatives with all the information on their long-term industrial projects and how they will help secure the future development of the two companies;
• Respect workers’ rights to information, consultation and participation on the envisaged merger plan, and secure high-level standards of social dialogue in the future.

• EU policy-makers swiftly deliver an ambitious European industrial policy that supports the competitiveness and long-term development perspectives of the railway supply industry. 

Download the Trade Union Joint Declaration in EN, DE and FR

Organisations cannot exploit strategic opportunities nor can they protect themselves from potential losses or failures, without a clear steer from the top on appropriate risk taking, says ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

Company boards are closely connected to effective risk management. Risk assessment, reporting and control help to enhance a board’s governance and control policies, keeping organisations aligned with their objectives.

ACCA’s research highlights the key challenges boards face when performing their roles, but also shines a light on current good practices across both smaller and larger organisations.

Key findings from the report include the following:

• Some organisations are increasingly aware of the strategic benefits of risk management, which helps them to exploit opportunities and exceed their objectives;
• Diversity enables boards to expand their skills and experience in risk; thus making them more effective collectively;
• Boards find it hard to understand and address risk culture within an organisation, due to a lack of guidance and difficulty in connecting culture to organisational performance;
• Time constraints at board meetings and overly detailed risk reports can distract boards from looking at the bigger strategic picture.

Jo Iwasaki, ACCA’s head of corporate governance, says:

‘It is so important for the research to shed light on existing practices. It helps us find out how effective current measures are in raising the awareness and quality of board engagement in risk management. We can then highlight emerging good practice to promote improvement at every level.

‘This helps us have informed conversations with people in practice, but also those who are in the position to set the framework for good risk management.’

Lead researcher of the report, Dr Simon Ashby, associate professor of financial services in the Plymouth Business School at the University of Plymouth, says:

‘Time pressured boards operating in complex and dynamic environments can find it hard to place risk in a positive context. But those who do make connections between their

organisation’s strategy and risk management decisions can reap significant rewards. With risk comes opportunity, providing boards weigh up the risks and returns associated with different strategic options. We learned that risk management can enhance organisational value, as well as preserve it.

‘In addition to improving professional practice we hope that policy makers will take note of our report. Corporate governance regulation, such as the UK Corporate Governance Code is a major influence on board level risk management practices, we learned that mostly this influence is positive, but there can be unintended consequences. In particular policy makers need to recognise the difference between separation and segregation. Boards, and especially non-executives, need to maintain a degree of independence, but that does not mean they should be kept apart from the people within the organisation. Boards should understand and steer the culture of an organisation so that it promotes an appropriate balance between risk and control.’

Dr Cormac Bryce from Nottingham University Business School, says:

‘The presence of risk diversity on a board, those skills, knowledge, expertise, education and training around risk that ensure a board remains risk intelligent is crucial to effective strategic decision making within the boardroom.’

Patrick Ring, senior lecturer of Glasgow Caledonian University, says:

‘This report highlights the importance of the relationship between the business strategy and risk appetite of an organisation. If a board is to take advantage of business opportunities, it must also have the range of expertise and skills to enable it to identify and manage the key risks that are likely to arise. This report should enable both executives and non-executives on boards to reflect on the risk governance and how best to integrate risk into their decision-making.’

The research was commissioned in association with academics from the University of Nottingham, Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Plymouth.

You can view the full report on ACCA's website.

- ends -

For media enquiries, contact:

Chanel Townsend

E: chanel.townsend@accaglobal.com

T: +44 (0)20 7059 5622

M: +44 (0)7834173867
Twitter @ACCANews

About ACCA

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants, offering business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.

ACCA supports its 200,000 members and 486,000 students in 180 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. ACCA works through a network of 101 offices and centres and more than 7,200 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through its public interest remit, ACCA promotes appropriate regulation of accounting and conducts relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.

ACCA is currently introducing major innovations to its flagship qualification to ensure its members and future members continue to be the most valued, up to date and sought-after accountancy professionals globally.

Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. More information is here: www.accaglobal.com

The FAIB has just published the results of its salary benchmark survey carried out with the support of its Board members and its associate member, DKW.

“What’s special about this survey is its breadth” commented Adrian Harris FAIB President. “There are indeed many good association and company lobbyist salary and benefit surveys published by different organisations, but what is special about our survey is that it goes in depth into the pay and benefits packages of its different categories of members – notably on the one hand classical trade and professional associations and on the other charity and NGO staff. No one has to date carried out such a fine analysis which highlights the sometimes striking differences within the Brussels association world.”

This survey is based on data gathered on the remuneration and the fringe benefits of associations’ permanent staff from 131 organisations. It covers ALL job categories, from top management to administrative support staff and will therefore serve as a useful guideline and tool for (international) non-profit associations (I)NPAs.

For more information please contact:

faib@faib.org

www.faib.org

Rue Washington, 40

B-1050 Brussels, Belgium

Phone: + 32 (0)2 641 11 95

Executive summary

131 organisations were surveyed, 47 charities, 59 federations, 25 other. Due to small numbers of professional associations, we only broke down figures for Charities and Federations.

There were large variances in salary and benefits between organisations, much of which can often be explained by the type of organisation, the size of the organisation and the average age of the employees.

Benefits

The most common benefits provided are thirteenth month 85%, Luncheon vouchers 82 %, extra legal holidays 78%, travel to and from the office by public transport 78%.

Only 65% of organisations have a pension scheme for all employees, 50% give ecocheques and 56% have hospitalisation insurance and 15% provide company cars.

Trade Associations are much more likely to provide a pension scheme, mobile phone or company car

NGO/charities are more likely to provide flexible working, time off in lieu

CEO/ Secretary Generals

The median age is 50 years old with a slight majority (56%) being male.

The median remuneration is between 7000 and 8000 gross euros per month with a total annual cost to the organisation between 120000 and 150000 euros.

There are however considerable differences between types and size of organisations

• 61 % of those working for trade associations with annual budgets above 1Meuros were paid more 14000 euros per month.
• Similar sized charities were generally paid between 7000-8000