Diplomatic Economic Club^{® Since 1997}

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.

As Moody’s verdict is perfectly unfounded, the Hungarian government cannot but interpret it as part of the financial offensive against Hungary.
It is unfounded, as in the past one-and-a-half years there has been a markedly favourable change in most sectors of the Hungarian economy in spite of all external turbulences.

Turkish Minister for European Affairs, Mr. Egemen Bağış during his visit to the Baltic States answered  questions. «Turkish economy has been Europe’s fastest growing economy in the last decade and in terms of gross domestic product. Turkey has become the world’s 16th largest economy as of 2010. The OECD estimates that if Turkey sustains this economic performance in the next decades, it will be one of the ten largest economies in the world and will be the second-largest economy in Europe by 2050», said the minister.

The EU legislation clearly states that the Union laws –both primary and secondary- must be respected and implemented. The Commission makes monthly analysis of the member states’ state-of-art concerning implementation of the EU directives, mainly in line with their transposition’s deadline. Recent Commission analysis follows below with examples of formal complaints to the Court of Justice.

EU’ Eastern Direction is exploring new opportunities and possibilities in transport. This issue has been the target of the recent Commission’s efforts to streamline the region’s transport policy. Efforts in transport cooperation with several Eastern European countries can provide an excellent opportunity for the Baltic States to take part. Now it is the question of political will and actions.

European Commission proposed to develop a draft of the Common European Sales Law to boost trade and expand consumer choice. It will provide firms with an easy and cheap way to expand their business to new markets in Europe while giving consumers higher level of protection. Instead of setting aside national laws, the European Commission is taking an innovative approach to contracts based on free choice, subsidiarity and competition.

In World Bank’s Doing Business report 2012 Latvia moved up from the 31 to 21 place and passed by the neighboring Baltic countries. Estonia moved down from 18 to 24 position, Lithuania – from 25 to 27.
Latvia made starting a business easier by reducing the minimum capital requirement and introducing a common application for value added tax and company registration, noted the report in its summary.

The Hungarian government is firmly committed to uphold the deficit target of 2.5% of GDP as set in the Széll Kálmán Plan and the Convergence Programme even in the volatile global economic environment and the turbulences caused by the European sovereign debt crisis. To this end, the Government announced new measures to improve the budget by 1000bn HUF in 2012, including a buffer for unforeseen negative developments.

Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary in Latvia Gabor Dobokay at the meeting at his residency in Riga summed up for BC the semi-annual presidency of Hungary in EU’s Council. The term will end on June 30, 2011.

Regional development in the EU has acquired a particular attention in the Union policies after the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. Since then, major attention in the Union’s support for social and economic development in European regions has transformed both the Union’s budget and the policy coordination. A new publication provides a fresh insight into the „regions’ opportunities“ for theory and practice of European integration.