New EU rules demand explicit consent for use of cookies

BBC News reports that from 25 May, European laws dictate that "explicit consent" must be gathered from web users who are being tracked via text files called "cookies". These files are widely used to help users navigate faster around sites they visit regularly. Businesses are being urged to sort out how they get consent so they can keep on using cookies.

Read more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12668552

EU to collect data of international air travellers

According to EUObserver.com, air travellers going in and out of the EU may soon have to give their personal details to national authorities in the member state of departure or arrival, if proposals set to be put forward by the EU commission on Wednesday are approved by governments and the European Parliament.



Read more here: http://euobserver.com/9/31731

Transparency NGOs call on EU not to restrict document access

EUObserver.com reports that the EU is set to tightly restrict its freedom-of-information rules just seven years after they were introduced, says an alliance of some 180 human rights organisations, transparency pressure groups and journalist unions, which have called on the European Parliament to apply the breaks to proposed legislation.

On the weekend a public letter signed by 56 investigative journalists and 131 groups including transparency and access-to-information campaigners and environmental NGOs warned that European Commission proposals that are set to be approved in the coming weeks will "substantially reduce the number of public documents" available upon request.


Under the new rules, originally proposed in 2008 and as of Tuesday (1 February) at committee stage before the parliament, only documents that are formally transmitted would be made available upon request to a member of the public.


Read more here: http://euobserver.com/9/31736

ARMA European Region Briefing - Join us for a complimentary seminar organised by ARMA International and Autonomy in London on 9 February

Heightened oversight, explosive growth and complexity of information, along with the rapidly growing demands to comply with international laws and regulations are taxing organisations’ abilities to control valuable corporate information. How you manage your organisation’s records and information can have a huge impact on its success.


Join us at this meeting to find out about records management and information governance standards and best-practices, including the latest on GARP, Moreq 2010 and how to handle Web 2.0, from experts including Galina Datskovsky, President Elect at ARMA International, Jon Garde, Author of Moreq 2010 and Gavin Siggers, Director of ARMA’s European Region. There will also be plenty of networking opportunities and we hope you will join us for drinks after the event.

Provisional Agenda

• Registration & Coffee
• Welcome - Gavin Siggers, Director, ARMA Europe
• Generally Accepted Records Management Principles (GARP) - Galina Datskovsky, President Elect, ARMA International 
• Networking Break 
• Moreq 2010 – Jon Garde, Author of Moreq 2010
• Outsourcing Records and Information to the Cloud  - Galina Datskovsky, President Elect, ARMA International 
• Closing - Gavin Siggers, Director, ARMA Europe 
• Drinks/refreshments

Please note spaces for this seminar are limited. Register early to avoid disappointment.

To register, please click here

Eleven states to move on single EU patent

EUobserver.com reports that France, Germany, the UK and eight other countries will go ahead and implement a single EU patent aimed at lowering costs across the bloc to protect inventions, after talks with Italy and Spain over translation rights foundered.
Hailing it as "the cherry on top of the Belgian EU presidency cake," Vincent Van Quickenborne, Belgian acting minister for entrepreneurship and simplification said the move was "an important step for EU integration."

Not integrated in the deal, however, are Spain and Italy, who pressed to have their own languages recognised as well, not just English, French and German as the current decision entails.

Read more here: http://euobserver.com/9/31479/?rk=1

Turkey to sue US diplomats over Wikileaks claims

Euractiv.com repoprts that contrary to other European leaders who downplayed the importance of sometimes unflattering reports about them in the US diplomatic cables revealed by Wikileaks, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he was working on legal action against claims that he owned eight secret Swiss bank accounts.

Read the full article here: http://www.euractiv.com/en/pa/turkey-sue-us-diplomats-over-wikileaks-claims-news-500211

EU scraps bank secrecy to catch cross-border tax evaders

EUobserver.com reports that EU finance ministers on Tuesday (7 December) agreed to remove bank secrecy as a reason for blocking cross-border tax fraud investigations, in a bid to find fresh resources for cash-strapped state coffers.


"Tax evaders can no longer exploit bank secrecy as an excuse," EU taxation commissioner Algirdas Semeta said after the meeting.

Targeted is all "income from employment, directors' fees, dividends, capital gains, royalties, certain life insurance products, pensions, and ownership of and income from immovable property." The new rules will apply from 1 January next year, but they will not be retroactive.


Read the full article here: http://euobserver.com/9/31455/?rk=1