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January 2003
BritishAmerican Business Action
Temps to be Treated Same as Full-Time
Employees
The European Parliament voted in
November to give temporary workers the same rights as their full-time
counterparts. This could mean employers will have to give the UK’s 700,000
temps the same pay and benefits as full-timers after six weeks. BritishAmerican Business is
writing a response to the Government, which will soon be posted on our
web site,
urging it to be as
forceful as it can be in its arguments to Brussels. This new legislation
could hinder transatlantic investment into the UK, the biggest market for
temporary workers, because it will adversely affect the flexibility of the labour market, which attracts many large investors into the UK in the first
place.
UK Consults with Brussels on SMEs
London
The UK Government’s
Small Business Service has submitted its paper Enterprise
for All to the European Commission in its effort to eliminate barriers to
Small and Medium-sized Businesses in Europe.
The paper argues that confusing
EU compliance regulations, a lack of access to financing and an absence of
entrepreneurial training, are all retarding the EU’s ambition to be the most
competitive economy in the world.
With an upcoming EC
Entrepreneurship Green Paper to be presented at the 2003 Spring Council, the
UK is encouraging Brussels to adopt a strategy that encourages enterprise
and that takes a ‘light touch’ legislative approach for small firms.
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Politics at a Glance
Westminster:
Company Directors’ Performance and Compensation Bill: 2nd Reading
31January
www.parliament.uk
Washington:
John Snow, President Bush’s nominee for Treasury Secretary is undergoing
Senate confirmation hearings
www.senate.gov
Brussels
Plenary vote planned for week beginning 10 February 2003 on EU New
Consumer Policy Strategy 2002
Europa.eu.int |
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Growth in US Economy Smaller
Than Anticipated
Washington
On 30 January, the US Commerce
Department
Bureau of Economic Analysis
announced that the US economy slowed dramatically in the final quarter of
2002. As consumer spending turned cautious, the economy grew at an annual
rate of just 0.7 per cent. Worries over conflict in the Middle East, a
volatile stock market and a stagnant job climate meant US consumers
increased their spending by the smallest amount since 1993.
While the economy ended the year
on a slow note, for all of 2002, the economy grew by 2.4 percent. While that
marked a big improvement over the 0.3 percent rise registered in 2001, it
was still considered weaker-than-normal growth for the U.S. economy.
EU Examines Consumer
Protection Laws
Brussels
Business and consumer groups are
working with Member State governments to respond to an
EU Green Paper on Consumer Protection that proposes to facilitate
a ‘consumer internal market’ by issuing an EU-wide Directive - or Directives
- that would complement or maybe replace national consumer protection laws.
The Green Paper aims to address
unfair practices in business-to-consumer transactions, particularly
misleading advertising and unfair terms in consumer contracts or on the sale
of consumer goods.
Responses to the Green Paper are
undergoing European Parliament consideration and a number of
workshops/seminars are planned for the early part of this year; The European
Commission intends to bring forward a proposal for a framework Directive
before Summer 2003.
For more information on BritishAmerican Business’s
policy program, contact:
Sarah Sim,
Policy Manager.
ssim@BritishAmerican Businessnc.org
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