Can the EU Prevent Global Food Crisis?

On March 23, the European Commission adopted the Communication on “Safeguarding food security and reinforcing the resilience of food systems” to respond to the potential food shortages resulting from the ongoing war in Ukraine. The Commission has also proposed financial support to the EU Members States, Ukrainian citizens and farmers, and third countries that might face shortages due to export restrictions and rising prices of agricultural commodities. The EU has also committed to strongly advocating to avoid the export bans, increase the supply chain’s diversification, and improve its functioning. Preventing the Ukrainian government from exporting the crops will create shortages and threaten the least developed countries’ food supplies.

We invite you to join policymakers, sector representatives, and experts that will address the following questions:

  • How can the EU support export of commodities from Ukraine? What is the role of the Member States?
  • Are the EU transport regulations fit for purpose or somewhat hamper the trade?
  • What is the impact of EU regulations in the agricultural sector on production?
  • How to ensure the sector’s stability and sustainability in the long term?

Speakers:

Maciej Golubiewski, Head of Cabinet of the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Janusz Wojciechowski

Matthias Bauer, Director and Senior Economist at ECIPE

Irina Dushnik, Grain & Oilseed Committee Executive Director, European Business Association 

Jacob Hansen, Director General, Fertilizers Europe

Oksana Kuziakiv, Chief Executive, Head of the Сenter for Contemporary Society studies, Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (TBC)

Representative from Copa-Cogeca (TBC)

Moderated by Oscar Guinea, Senior Economist at ECIPE.

This event is co-hosted with the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE).

Vision Zero – road to a safer children transportation

The report on the EU Road Safety Policy Framework 2021-2030 Vision Zero adopted last October by the European Parliament, in its §27 calls on “establishing standards for information requirements on the safety parameters of child restraint systems”.

The CRS-child restraint systems topic and the problem of standardized information about the safety tests of the CRS should be addressed in the initiatives Commission adoption. The problem of safety in the children restraint systems is of double nature. It is an important global road safety issue but also, a serious concern from the European Union consumers regulation perspective. Lack of publicly available results of the devices safety tests impact the conscious choice of the consumers. Then, whereas vehicles and car parts make the safety tests available to the public, the children’s transportation devices remain in the unregulated area where neither producers nor the homologation authorities allow accessing the safety parameters the devices obtain.

A vast scientific research shows the risky results of some of the CRS devices that are in use. We believe that this topic should become a priority for the DG MOVE regarding the implementation of the Vision Zero Road Safety Framework for 2021-2030, and the DG JUST. Addressing this problem is also a part of the New Consumer Agenda work that calls on rights of informative choice and enforcing safety regulations of products used in the EU. The debate aims at explaining this problem in detail and present with the opportunity to understand the state of works on the document in the European Institutions.

We hope for elaborating on the directions for the CRS standardization as intercrossing transport safety and consumers EU community priority.

AGENDA*

12:00-12:15    Welcome word by Kosma Złotowski, Member of the European Parliament, ECR Group

12:15-13:30    Debate & Questions   

Katarzyna Kurek, Consumers Forum Foundation

DG JUST Representative (tbc)

DG MOVE Representative (tbc)

Marcin Flieger, Global Road Safety Partnership – GRSP (tbc)

Bartłomiej Witucki, Sajfan Witucki Law Office

Jens Karsten, bxl-law Law Office

Fanny Rateau, ECOS Brussels

Łukasz Zboralski, BRD24.pl

Moderation: Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers Board Member

*This is a physical event, and the EP accreditation is required. If you don’t have one, please get in touch with kosma.zlotowski@europarl.europa.eu before May 23.

EU Emissions Trading System – reforms towards the future

The European Emissions Trade Scheme was intended to be an economic stimulus to reduce the emissions of the economy. However, the experience of recent years, as well as econometric analyses, indicate that it has become a perfect environment for speculations, that resulted in a price bubble on the market. Should financial institutions be excluded from the system? If so, is this the only change that should be made? Should the ETS be expanded in the line with Fit for 55 package? These and other questions we would like to attempt answering during the debate.

AGENDA

11:00- 11:15 Welcome word

Jerzy Buzek, Member of the European Parliament
Marcin Nowacki, EESC Member, President of the European Enterprise Alliance

11:15- 12:00 Debate & Questions

Jos Delbeke, Professor, European Investment Bank Chair on Climate Change Policy and International Carbon Markets
Andreas Gluck, Member of the European Parliament (TBC)
Horst Heitz, SME Connect SME Europe Secretary General and Chair of the Steering Committee of SME Connect
Cement Producers Association

Moderation: Jakub Binkowski, Board Member Union of Entrepreneurs’ and Employers

Fit for Today – How energy policy can increase the EU’s security?

The Russian attack on Ukraine has shocked the world. For the EU, the war proved to be a wake-up call: showing the dangers of increasing dependence on Russian energy supplies and prompted the need to re-evaluate EU energy and climate policy. Keeping this in mind, we would like to invite you to a debate on the future of the Fit for 55 package. The aim of the debate is to see how Fit for 55 can be used to increase the EU’s security and what changes might be needed to current EU policies.

Speakers:

MEP Marian Jean Marinescu

Marcin Nowacki, EESC Member, President of the European Enterprise Alliance

Łukasz Kolinski, European Commission, DG ENER (TBC)

Horst Heitz, Chair of SME Connect Steering Committee

Włodzimierz Ehrenhalt, ZPP Chief Expert on Energy, President of Renewable Energy Association

Moderation:  Jakub Binkowski, Board Member Union of Entrepreneurs’ and Employers

League for Digital Boost Online RoundtablE

It’s our privilege to invite you to an online discussion roundtable organized by Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, European Enterprise Alliance and SME Connect in cooperation with the Slovak Alliance for Innovation Economy (SAPIE).

League for Digital Boost is a Central European initiative by the Slovak Alliance for Innovation Economy (SAPIE). The initative aims to mobilize key players in the field of digitization of SMEs in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries to highlight the key challenges of this topic and propose solutions for policy makers in the region. The main ambition of the League is to connect public actors, private and non-governmental fields, to strategically strengthen the development of the topic of SME digitization and to link business needs with policy-making in the region and to enable the sharing of good practices. The aim of this roundtable is to identify the main obstacles of the digitization of SMEs that can be addressed by appropriate policies.

Hereby we take the liberty to draw your attention to discuss about the key insights:

  • Practical experience of digitization: what are the main obstacles of the digitization of SMEs?
  • What are the key issues for comprehensive state support for SME digitization? How to set public policies in this business area?
  • What institutions and partners should be involved to strengthen the digitization of SMEs across the country?
  • What are the best practices from other countries that could be most easily adopted to support the digitalization of SMEs?

Agenda:

Member of the European Parliament Ms Josianne Cutajar hosting introduction

Key Speech Janusz Cieszynski, Secretary of State for Digital Affairs (TBC)

Michal Kardos, SAPIE CEO on introduction of the League for Digital Growth

Panel discussion opening by project Ambassadors

Marcin Nowacki, European Enterprise Alliance President

Michał Kanownik, Digital Poland Chairman of the Board

Katarzyna Kurek, Consumers Forum Foundation

Horst Heitz, SME Europe Secretary General and Chair of the Steering Committee of SME Connect

Moderation: Adam Pakulski, Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers

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