'Improve Digital' Wins Deloitte Rising Star Award 2011

EPC EU-Brazil Post-Summit Briefing

I’ll start with a confession. I didn’t stay for the whole event, there was a conference on Catalan SME strategy across the street, it needed going to. Had there not been a Catalan SME conference across the street, I would have been tempted to cross the street anyway; I don’t do “can’t do” capitalism.

The Brussels-based European Policy Centre is a noble enterprise; they bring together great minds and deep experience. The EU-Brazil Business Summit, Post-Summit Briefing was as snappy as its title, and there was no coffee beforehand to keep pulses racing. The panellists were thoughtful, and their points were based on experience; but in an age when viable export opportunities are limited and every open market should be embraced, the panel just weren’t showing Brazil the love it deserves. 

Put simply, the panel weren’t American. They were largely Northern European, and oozing all the enthusiasm for change that a Saville Row tailor can muster for Mumbai sweat-shop factory fabrics. “Brazil,” went the sentiment, “if only they would fix everything first, then we could do business.”

The reality check came from Embraer’s President for Europe, Luiz Fernando Fuchs. Fuchs took the American approach and used the occasion to showcase his company, his products, and their incredible journey from corporate basket-case to quality-driven, ambitious, aircraft manufacturer. Thanks Luiz, you made my morning!

The complaints from the panel went along the lines of: the tax system, Brazil’s tax system, oh, the tax system…. Enough. Hire smarter people. Work the system. If you don’t, the Brazilians will, the Chinese will, the Indians will. They are more American.

Can do? Yes. Can do better Europe. Stretch or starve.

New EU-Brazil "Strategic Complicity"

New EU-Brazil "Strategic Complicity"

Addressing Brazil’s President, Dilma Rousseff, at the fifth EU‑Brazil summit, José Manuel Durão Barroso President of the European Commission, said it is: “…time to consider moving from a strategic partnership to a strategic ‘complicity’” ..read more

Merkel Is 'Rock of European Integration'

Merkel Is 'Rock of European Integration'
“You and your country are a solid rock of European integration. You have not only saved the Lisbon Treaty, but you are also a rock of stability in the storms of the financial crisis," said Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament at a meeting with Angela Merkel ..read more

"Look me in the eye Brad, and say we'll make it through this..." EP President, Jerzy Buzek, meets with German Federal Chancellor, Angela Merkel... with apologies to Roy Lichtenstein

Catalunya 's Strategy - Grow SMEs Today; Nurture Intellect for Tomorrow

Trichet Advocates New European Executive

Speaking at the European Parliament today, Jean Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank, said he expects the European Union to establish a new executive.

Asserting democratic legitimacy as the underpinning principle of a future executive, Trichet, describing a future executive, emphasised his belief that it must include a finance ministry with strong fiscal surveillance and guardianship roles.

In one of his last appearances before Parliament, Trichet said the European Parliament is the "heart of the living democracy in Europe. We at the ECB are the guardians of the currency of our fellow citizens"

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Europontex Launches Social Energy Solutions

Lisbon, Portugal. Europontex, the global construction supplier, is launching Social Energy Solutions, an innovative enterprise designed to offer off-grid energy production for isolated communities. Europontex CEO, Fernando Azevedo, stated: “Social Energy Solutions will focus on energy production for isolated communities; in addition we are providing pre-fabricated housing for government social project, especially for disaster relief and refugee emergencies." Read More...