Diplomatic Economic Club^{® Since 1997}

The leaders of 11 states that surround the Baltic Sea have been unanimous about the main idea: the Baltic Sea shall be clean before 2020. The marine environment of the fragile Baltic Sea is important to the well-being to millions of people.

The new European universities listing (U-Multirank) differs from existing rankings by assessing the universities according to a broader range of performance factors, aimed at providing a more realistic and user-friendly guide to offered education and training.

European Resource Efficiency Platform is created in the EU, consisting of the Commission members, member states’ ministers for environment, MEPs, leading energy –resources figures (33persons in total).

The EU wants to keep delivering on citizens’ rights – therefore the Commission has dedicated a full year to the EU-citizens’ relationship. 2013 has been officially named «The European Year of Citizens».

At the EU-Moldova Forum which was organised by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik (Berlin, 22 October 2012), Stefan Füle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood delivered his opinion about the Republic of Moldova’s development and the European Union-Moldova relationship.

The Commission’s President delivered the State of the Union address to the Parliament’s plenary session for the third time. In analyzing the present EU’s situation he underlined the ways out of financial, economic, political and social aspects of the European crisis.

Commission President’s call for a „federation of nations“ has aroused a new wave of reflections concerning European future. Politicians in the Baltic States are facing a tough time accommodating closer ties with the new „Union’s powers“.

The European Commission has launched an in-depth consultation on the future of European company law. Europe needs a company law framework that is adapted to the needs of the society of today and to the evolution of the economic environment. EU company law has played a central part in building the single market. It is now time to see whether today’s needs are still met by the existing legal framework. An on-line public consultation is to collect comments from all stakeholders; the deadline for contributions is 14 May 2012.

"The most difficult stage in the life of Belarus has been already overcome, and the economy of our country begins a new movement forward," – said in his speech at the traditional meeting with journalists Ambassador of Belarus to Latvia Alexander Gerasimenko. In 2011 Belarus’ GDP amounted to 105.3% over the same period last year.

New European Commission’s action plan for doubling the volume of e-commerce in the EU by 2015 is aimed at stimulating growth and employment. The Commission said that if 15 % of retail sales were e-commerce and the obstacles to the internal market were removed, the gains for consumers might total ? 204 billion, or 1,7% of EU GDP. The Baltic States cannot miss the opportunities envisaged in the plan.

It was hardly any doubt that the agreement, called „financial compact“, would be accepted by the EU member states’ majority at the summit during last January days in 2012. A slight surprise was the Czech’s government decision to join the UK in opposing the drastic financial measures for the member states. There are however some lessons to learn for the Baltic States.