European Technology: A €63 billion EU app boom. Nearly 5 million jobs in European app sector by 2018, says EU report

Apps=Skills=Jobs

The EU's app sector has gone from zero to digital superhero in less than five years. By 2018 it could employ 4.8 million people and contribute €63 billion to the EU economy according to a report presented in Brussels today.

The study, carried out by GIGAOM and NUI Galway for the European Commission, shows that Europe's app developers are up to the challenge of taking the global lead.

 Currently, EU and North American developers generate the same levels (42% each) of app revenues in crucial EU and US markets. Although the future is bright, developers have raised concerns about the skills gap, connectivity and fragmentation which could put the app boom at risk

Today the app economy employs 1 million developers, and 800,000 people in marketing & support posts.

This could rise to 2.7 million developers + 2.1 million support staff by 2018. EU buyers and advertisers spent €6.1 billion on apps in 2013, 30% of total global app spending, growing to €18.7 billion in 2018. Consumer spending combined with advertising and contract work could lead to €63 billion annual revenue for the app sector within five years.

Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission, said "In the face of increasing youth unemployment, these figures give me new hope. The app sector is one area of the digital economy where Europe can really lead. But we have to address concerns about connectivity and fragmentation – yet another reason to complete the telecom single market!"

28 EU leading companies created 40% of the top 100 grossing apps in the EU and US. Three of the top-five companies are Nordic games developers (1st King.com, 2nd, Supercell, 5th Rovio)with German, French, Spanish and UK app developers also finding success outside their native markets. 

Growing market, growing jobs: In 2013, developers earned €11.5 billion making apps for consumer goods, banking, media, retail and other clients. They can expect to earn up to €46 billion through contracts of this nature in 2018. The app boom is creating jobs, for example contract developers Golden Gekko (London/Barcelona) plans to grow its staff 40-50% next year and London-based Grapple Mobile was a 3-person firm three years ago, employs 120 now, and intends to double next year.

Almere-Digest

THE 2014 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS: THIS TIME IT’S DIFFERENT- MORE DEMOCRACY LESS BUREAUCRACY

Vote and let your voice be heard

Elections to the European Parliament will be held in all member states of the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014 (depending on the dates set by the national governments), as decided unanimously by the Council of the European Union.     

It will be the eighth Europe-wide election to the European Parliament since the first direct elections in 1979.

The countdown has started: there are 100 days to go until the first polling stations open for the 2014 European elections. In this second biggest democratic exercise in the world, close to 500 million people can cast their vote for a new European Parliament. The 751 MEPs taking up their seats in July will not only set the course of European policies for the next five years but also elect the leader of the EU's executive body, the European Commission President.

For the first time, the composition of the new European Parliament will determine who will lead the next European Commission, the EU's executive body, which initiates legislation and supervises its implementation. Under the new rules, EU government leaders, who will propose a candidate for the post of the future Commission President, must do so on the basis of the election results.

The European Parliament will elect the new Commission President by a majority of the component members, i.e. at least half of the 751 MEPs to be elected (376). European political parties will therefore, or have already, put forward their candidates for this leading position in the EU before the European elections, thus allowing citizens to have a say over next Commission President.

The new political majority emerging from the elections will also shape European legislation over the next five years in areas from the single market to civil liberties.

The Parliament - the only directly elected EU institution - is now a linchpin of the European decision-making system and has an equal say with national governments on virtually all EU laws. Voters will be more influential than ever. 

If you are an EU national living in another EU country, you have the right to vote and stand as a candidate for the European Parliament elections in that country. Check for details with your Embassy or Consulate.

Vote and let your voice be heard.  The EU Belongs to all of us.

To get a Press kit click here.

EU-Digest

Corruption Worlds most important economic problem - how does your country score?

corruption - a global economic disease

The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world.

The Index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). No country has a perfect score, and two-thirds of countries score below 50. This indicates a serious, worldwide corruption problem.

The world urgently needs a renewed effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance, pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public institutions.

Go to the link below and see how your country scores.

For the complete report go to transparency international

The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world.
The Index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). No country has a perfect score, and two-thirds of countries score below 50. This indicates a serious, worldwide corruption problem. Hover on the map above to see how your country fares.
The world urgently needs a renewed effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance, pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public institutions.
- See more at: http://www.transparency.org/cpi2013/results#sthash.cP3Rod0A.dpuf

EU-Digest

Britain: Almost as many Brits living in other EU countries than there are EU citizens living in Britain?

Is a British suicide in the making ?

Factcheck EU argues that Graham Watson, a Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament, at  a time when the British public is particularly sensitive to issues regarding immigration into the UK, has defended  one of the bastions of the European Union, the principle of free movement, as a reaction to the British Prime Minister's intent to "crack down on European immigration rules."

To support his opinions, Mr. Watson argues that targeting specific nationalities when imposing restrictions on free movement could spark retaliations on British citizens living in other member states of the European Union. Mr. Watson reminds the British public that "there are almost as many Brits living in other European countries than there are other Europeans living in Britain."

Factcheck EU says this statement is not correct and base it on the following arguments.

A report on "Population and Social Conditions" published by Eurostat for the year 2012 states the figure is close to 1 million, which is less than the amount of other EU nationals residing on British soil. Factcheck EU then jumps one year ahead and states the most recent figures from Eurostat indicate that there are now over 2.3 millio European Citizens living in Britain..

Note EU-Digest: Factcheck is comparing Apples with Pears. What they do not describe is that either way the numbers are both substantial and a unilateral move by Britain to step out of the EU would be an economic disaster for Britain and the more than a million plus Brits living in the EU, not to mention the millions of Brits who own vacation homes in the European Union. 

Jim Cowles, Citi chief executive officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa, recently told the British Financial Times that there was "mounting concern" among clients about their ability to use the United Kingdom as a regional hub if the country exits the EU.

Bottom line Britain is far better off in the EU than outside it.

EU-Digest

The Netherlands. Dutch populist eurosceptic politician Geert Wilders wants Netherlands to leave EU

Eurosceptics Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen

In a foretaste of his campaign for European parliamentary elections in May, Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders is making his case that the Netherlands would be better off leaving the European Union.

He claimed Thursday a "NExit" -- Netherlands exit from both the European Union and euro currency zone -- would add nearly 10,000 euros ($13,000) to GDP per capita over two decades, from around 35,000 euros now.

The Dutch government rejects Wilders' views, saying a pullout from the European Union would cause irreparable damage to trade relations in a country heavily reliant on trade, and a euro departure would lead to a new financial crisis.

Wilders' views on leaving the European Union have so far gained little traction in the Netherlands, and are seen as practically unworkable. However, his euro-skeptic stance, like that of other parties elsewhere on the political extremes -- such as France's Marine Le Pen, Greece's Alexis Tsipras and Britain's Nigel Farage, does resonate with a wider public.

A survey published last week by pollster Maurice de Hond found almost as many Dutch would vote for Wilders' Freedom Party as for the two parties in the centrist governing coalition combined -- if national elections were held today. They are not scheduled until 2017. Wilders said he hoped that his faction would be the largest Dutch faction in the European elections.

At the press conference, Wilders presented a study that concluded there would be significant positive economic effects from leaving the EU. He commissioned the study from the London-based think-tank Capital Economics, founded by Wilders Eurosceptic economist friend Roger Bootle.

EU-Digest

Corruption - Banking Industry: U.S. banks can match China’s for corruption any day - by David Weidner

Banking Industry, Favoritism and Corruption

"Tian xià wu ya yi yàng hei." I may not have the translation exactly correct, but in Mandarin, loosely, the expression means “in the whole world, all crows are black.”

The proverb isn’t about crows. Crows are a metaphor for bad guys. And the upshot is this: we may judge different cultures for their failings, but we have failings too. We all have our crows. Everywhere they are black. 

This idea of equanimity in how we are all flawed came to mind as the scandal escalates over banks hiring people connected to China’s political and powerful elite. We tend to look at these transgressions — if they can be called that — and pass judgment. Perhaps we say “look at the awful Chinese political system,” or “look at the terrible behavior of U.S. banks.”

In case you missed it, or are a little fuzzy on the details, several foreign banks are being investigated for hiring well-connected Chinese, or “princelings.” They may be the son, daughter cousin of an official or the official him- or herself. 

On Monday, UBS AG  suspended two executives, including its top IPO banker in Asia, in an internal probe into the hiring of an employee related to the head of a Chinese listing hopeful, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited anonymous sources. UBS declined comment. 

And the same day came revelations that the family friend of an important Chinese regulator — who had say over the bank’s ability to pursue insurance business in the country — was given an audience with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon in June 2012. The friend reportedly received a special internship with the bank and then became a full-time employee. 

“Our CEO played no role in the hiring decision, did not weigh in, and did not follow up,” Joseph Evangelisti, a bank spokesman, said in a statement. “It is his normal practice to pass on referrals without advice to those involved in hiring.” 

The dust-ups at UBS and J.P. Morgan were just the latest in the saga where U.S. financial firms may or may not have used hiring friends or relatives of powerful officials as a way of influencing business decisions in the banks favor. 

OK. Let’s assume they did. So what? This is how business is done in China. And it’s not that different from how it’s done here, even though many of us believe our way is the superior way. 

China is struggling with corruption. It ranks 80th out of 178 countries in Transparency International’s Corruptions Perceptions Index . It is, perhaps, the country’s most pressing problem as it seeks to become the leading global economic power. 

In the same index the U.S. rank is 19th. Maybe it shouldn’t be. After all, this is a perception index. People think the US  is more on the up and up.

In the United States, financial firms use an equally questionable practice of hiring regulators or losing top executives to regulatory roles. 

Consider also that 127 current or former members of the health, education and labor committees in Congress either have worked, or are now working, in the industries they were overseeing as lawmakers, according to OpenSecrets.org. 

The SEC and Congress aren’t the only places where the revolving door swings. Robert Rubin, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary, joined Citigroup Inc.  in 2000 and collected $115 million as the bank took $45 billion in taxpayer-funded bailouts and $300 billion in guarantees on assets. The most recent former Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, left to join the private equity firm Warburg Pincus. as new rules were being crafted on the industry. 

At least China and Europe are doing something about their issues. A report in 2010 by the Anti-Corruption and Governance Research Center at Tsinghua University found that in just 11 months of that year the government’s anti-corruption division investigated 119,000 graft cases, resulting in 113,000 people being punished. 

 Recently the EU Commission  came out with an "Anti-Corruption Report", which showed that corruption is widespread in the EU and costs the taxpayer there around 120 billion euros ($160 billion) per year.

Just because US crows are ours, doesn’t mean they’re not black, just as they are all around the world. 

Read more: U.S. banks can match China’s for corruption any day - David Weidner's Writing on the Wall - MarketWatch

EU Anti-Corruption Report shows corruption in the EU amounts to more than 120 billion euros a year:

Corruption is widespread in the EU even in the Netherlands

Corruption continues to be a challenge for Europe. Affecting all EU Member States, corruption costs the European economy around 120 billion euros per year. Member States have taken many initiatives in recent years, but the results are uneven and more should be done to prevent and punish corruption. These are some of the conclusions from the first ever EU Anti-Corruption Report published recently by the European Commission.

The EU Anti-Corruption Report explains the situation in each Member State: what anti-corruption measures are in place, which ones are working well, what could be improved and how. National chapters in English and in national languages are available here: http://ec.europa.eu/anti-corruption-report

The report shows that both the nature and level of corruption, and the effectiveness of measures taken to fight it, vary from one Member State to another. It also shows that corruption deserves greater attention in all Member States.

Corruption is taking place in every EU member state from North to South . Even in unsuspected countries like the Netherlands.  In the report the Commission suggests that the Netherlands should focus some of their efforts also on prosecuting cases of corruption in international business transactions, by increasing the capacity to proactively investigate foreign bribery.

More than three quarters of European citizens, and 61 percent of the Dutch, agree that corruption is widespread in their home country. Four percent of Europeans, and two percent of the Dutch, say that they have been asked or expected to pay a bribe in the past year.

This trend is also illustrated by the results of a Eurobarometer survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards corruption published today. The survey shows that three quarters (76%) of Europeans think that corruption is now  widespread and more than half (56%) think that the level of corruption in their country has increased over the past three years. One out of twelve Europeans (8%) say they have experienced or witnessed a case of corruption in the past year. Eurobarometer results are available here.

"Corruption undermines citizens' confidence in democratic institutions and the rule of law, it hurts the European economy and deprives States from much-needed tax revenue. Member States have done a lot in recent years to fight corruption, but today’s Report shows that it is far from enough. The Report suggests what can be done, and I look forward to working with Member States to follow it up", said Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs.

"Being a politician has unfortunately also become a profitable business opportunity for many of our European political elite, including some of our very own here in Holland. Instead of serving their constituents they are in politics to enrich themselves", said a housewife in the town of Almere in the Netherlands 

Read more: EUROPA - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Commission unveils first EU Anti-Corruption report 

EU-Digest