The US drops tariff threat over global tax agreement
The United States withdrew its threat of tariffs against five European countries over their digital services taxes, as part of a deal to manage the transition to a new global tax policy for large corporations. Austria, France, Britain, Spain, and Italy will get to enforce their digital taxes until ...
Qualitest now has a presence in Europe after acquiring telexiom
Qualitest announced on Tuesday the acquisition of telexiom GmbH, a Cologne-based IT consulting and services specialist. The acquisition is Qualitest’s fourth this year, giving the company a strong base in Germany.
Germany is Europe’s largest and faster-growing IT market at almost 41 billion ...
Borrell’s speech marks shift in EU’s stance on China’s threats to Taiwan
The EU’s foreign policy chief has significantly added to the bloc’s rhetoric concerning China’s threat to Taiwan. In what has been billed the most comprehensive chief yet on Taiwan, which China considers its territory, Joseph Borell on Tuesday raised concerns regarding Beijing’s escalation ...
The Competition DG is put under the microscope by the EU Ombudsman
The EU Ombudsman has escalated an investigation regarding ‘revolving doors’ at the European Commission. Their focus will be on Margrethe Vestager’s well-connected and powerful competition department, which has lost some of its experienced people to prominent law firms.
The regulators, who ...
Ericsson will cut back on China operations after Huawei retaliation
Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company Ericsson announced to reduce operations in China after experiencing a significant sales drop in one of its biggest markets because of retaliation related to Sweden's ban on the Chinese giant Huawei preventing it from selling 5G gear in...
Europe allocates €227 million in funding to tech startups
The European Commission’s European Innovation Council has picked 65 startups and small companies to get some funding from a pot worth €363m.
The EIC accelerator program mandates that each company gets a combination of grant financing and equity investments of up to €17m to develop and scal...
‘EU tech regulations unfairly target Silicon Valley’
The EU’s efforts to curb Silicon Valley using new competition rules are becoming an irritant in the transatlantic relationship. The sentiment follows the two sides' commitment to deepen tech and trade ties. Senior officials from Washington and Brussels gathered in Pittsburg last month.
The mee...
Ireland’s decision about Facebook sparks argument about limits of GDPR
EU officials are getting ready to fight regarding how much control companies should have over the processing of personal data after a decision targeting Facebook came out of Ireland’s privacy regulator, triggering pushback from campaigners.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said last week...
Facebook intends to hire 10,000 EU citizens to create its ‘metaverse’
Facebook has announced plans to hire 10,000 people in the European Union over the next half-decade. The social media giant announced the plan on Monday, which intends to build what the company is calling a metaverse.
The concept refers to a nascent online world that facilitates communications in...
EU committee vote for bigger cuts on wholesale roaming fees
The European Parliament Industry Committee voted for deeper cuts in wholesale roaming tariffs paid by telecom operators to their counterparts than those pitched by the EU Commission. The move intends to encourage competition.
Wholesale price caps usually put the southern European and northern Eu...
EU plans to investigate intended ARM acquisition by Nvidia
Nvidia’s bid to buy British chip designer ARM will face more scrutiny from EU antitrust watchdogs after concessions offered last week failed to address concerns raised by the competition, according to three people close to the matter.
An EU investigation would be a second blow to Nvidia, as it...
Ireland agrees with initiative to tax Big Tech with at least 15 percent
The Republic of Ireland has finally agreed to sign the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development‘s plans to create fair tax laws that prevent big tech from evading taxes by headquartering in low-tax countries.
Irish and Dutch tax law has a number of loopholes that allow Apple, Amaz...