Diplomatic Economic Club^{® Since 1997}

Plans to expand a gas pipeline from Russia to Germany will strengthen the EU Energy Union, Nord Stream 2 consortium spokesperson Ulrich Lissek told New Europe.

The idea of the European Citizens’ Initiative was introduced by the Lisbon Treaty. Specific rules and procedures were set out in a Regulation implemented by the member states since 2012. In this way the EU forces democracy principles into the Union’s decision-making.

The future’s economic development will be based on a reduced-to-minimum distance between the supply-demand sides of the production chain. Another change is a shift from economic ownership categories to a „user-ship“ one. Business in the Baltics has to see the future trends and accommodate to changes

Diversity of participants gathering at the European energy union conference organised within Latvian Presidency in the Council of Ministers in Riga (6 February 2015) have shown great interest in the new European energy policy. Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President for Energy Union and Miguel Arias Cañete, Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy expressed the views of European Commission.

The European Central Bank announced recently a large program of quantitative easing (QE), involving a purchase of over €1 trillion of assets (mainly government bonds) in the euro-zone countries. It’s a huge change from a conservative ECB’s position in monetary policy with possible strong effect for economy and business in the three Baltic States.

A new version of the EU Transparency Register is being launched at the end of January 2015, following joint work by the European Commission and the European Parliament. It is the so-called „second generation“ of the Register and it implements the provisions of the revised inter-institutional agreement between the European Parliament and the European Commission signed in April 2014.

In view of expected investments from countries outside the EU, the Capital Requirements Regulation No 575/2013 sets out certain rules to entities in third countries, which financial institutions can benefit from more favorable treatment. The rules through the Implementing Act will enter into force on 1 January 2015; thus, 3rd countries’ investments will be equivalent to rules applied in the EU.

EU Annual Growth Survey, AGS launches the annual cycle of economic governance for 2015 and sets out general economic priorities for the EU and the member states. The economic policy guidance for 2015 is based on three main pillars: boosting investments, activating structural reforms and deliver on fiscal responsibility. These ideas are a good hint for Latvian Council Presidency, which aimed at stimulating growth.

The new EU President, former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, takes his office as the European Union’s leader on the first day of December 2014. His election to the highest EU post is both a reflection of stronger Eastern European states and a weakness of major Western governments. Bottom-line: EU leadership needs Eastern-European perspectives

Both, a recent Commission’s report and a Eurobarometer survey (October 2014), underline that Europe’s future is based on science achievements. While EU’s member states are still facing many challenges, a lot of solutions to these problems would come from science and new technologies.
Science and research matter much for the future of Europe.

Dr. Marc Faber founder and head of his own investment fund MARC FABER Ltd. Born in Zurich, Switzerland, he studied economics at the University of Zurich.
  Publishes a monthly investment newsletter «Boom Gloom & Doom Report», author of several books. Known by the nickname «Dr Doom».

Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal and Editor of the globalresearch.ca website