Chancellor Merkel addresses SMEs in podcast message 5. August 2006 by Thomas Jannot In her regular podcast the German Chancellor this time addresses small and medium-sized entities (SMEs). The motto of her campaign in favour of SMEs is “Try more freedom”. In her audio and video message Mrs. Angela Merkel explains how the German government wants to put into practice the plans of the campaign.
Companies are not taking data protection seriously 5. August 2006 by Thomas Jannot A survey carried out by Compuware in co-operation with the National Initiative for Internet Security (NIFIS) revealed that 64 percent of IT decision makers use real client data for application tests thereby taking risks of having to pay fines or being punished otherwise according to the provisions of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG). This …
Guide cautions SMEs against unknown cost trap 5. August 2006 by Thomas Jannot The BusinessVillage website cautions against a kind of duty to be paid which is mostly unknown: irrespective of whether you are an entrepreneur in the goods-producing industry or having your own agency, you will have to pay so-called social art contributions, if for advertising reasons you make use of the services of freelance graphic designers, …
Marketing days in Erfurt marked by Europe 5. August 2006 by Thomas Jannot There will be a series of events organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Erfurt which are called “marketing days” and will take place under the motto “Europe – people, markets, marketing”. In total there will be seven seminars and workshops organized between September 5th and 15th which address in particular small and …
Wholesale business is doing well 5. August 2006 by Thomas Jannot The wholesale business is looking back onto a successful first half of the year. According to Mr Anton Börner, chairman of the Association of German Whole and Foreign Trade (BGA), the current boom has led to significant growth in this economic sector. The optimistic announcement came on the occasion of the publication of turnover figures …
Financial Times to stage a private equity conference 5. August 2006 by Thomas Jannot After the debate on Mr. Franz Müntefering´s comparison of hedge funds to voracious locusts has cooled off, one today wonders whether private equity (⇒ Wikipedia) may not rather become Germany’s driving force for efficiency and competitiveness. On the occasion of the 2nd private equity conference organized by the Financial Times Deutschland on September 6th in …
Majority in favour of deregulation of shop closing times 5. August 2006 by Thomas Jannot According to a survey by the Association of Consumer Research (GfK), which was commissioned by the TextilWirtschaft professional journal, 70 percent of all German consumers are in favour of a general deregulation of statutory shop closing times. The survey also showed a growing dissatisfaction with current shop closing hours. Back in the year 2000 about …
EU wants minor contracts to be placed in a fair manner 28. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot The European Commission has published interpretative guidelines on a fair placement of minor contracts by the public sector. The new guidelines, on which an interpretative notice is available, contain proposals on how public authorities should proceed in accordance with the EU single market principles of transparency and anti-discrimination. Examples for illustration are given as well. …
Opinion poll reveals outrage about introduction of fees for company computers 28. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot There is big outrage by companies on the introduction of broadcasting fees for company computers linked to the Internet from January 1st 2007. Many companies are threatened by multiple charges. Small entities or one-man companies will in future have to pay triple fees: as private person, for the company car and for the computer in …
New details on equal-treatment-law 28. July 2006 by Thomas Jannot At the end of June the lower house of German parliament passed a general equal-treatment-law (AGG) about which we already reported. By introducing this law Germany meets its obligations of casting four EU anti-discrimination directives into national law. This led to a big quarrel on the scope of the new law the provisions of which …