Welcome
Economic Affairs and Energy

Container ship, © colourbox.com
The Department of Economic and Energy deals with competitiveness, trade policy, cohesion and competition issues, telecommunications and media, policies and business:
COMPETITIVENESS:
- Industrial policy
- Horizontal Internal Market
- Better regulation
- SME policy
- Europe 2020 Strategy
- European Semester
- Harmonization of laws / mutual recognition in the areas of free movement of goods, service
- European standardization policy
- Information procedure technical regulations
- Technical Harmonisation
- Services, trade, liberal professions
- Professional Qualifications
- Free movement of EU citizens
- Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD)
- Tourism issues
- Transfer of arms
- Economic statistics
- Task Force Greece
- European Space Policy
TRADE POLICY:
- Joint EU trade policy (incl. Investment protection, trade in services)
- Bilateral trade agreements of the EU, in particular TTIP, CETA, EU-Japan
- Specific questions of foreign economic / commercial policy, esp.
- Generalized System of preferences, tariff quotas and suspensions
- Trade protection (u. a. anti-dumping / anti-subsidy)
- Market access and origin matters
- Textile trade, commodities
- World Trade Organization (WTO), including multilateral and plurilateral agreements
- Economic and commercial aspects of the EU's relations with third countries (USA, Latin America and others..)
- Foreign Trade Political Affairs at the OECD, G7 / G8
- Trade and Investment Promotion
- Dual-use items (Dual Use Regulation)
COHESION AND COMPETITION:
- Structural, regional and cohesion policy
- State aid control policy
- Competition policy
- Public contracts / procurement law
- Legal Adviser for infringement proceedings
- Europe Legal issues of gambling
- General interest
TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA POLICIES:
- The Digital Single Market strategy
- Review of the Electronic Communications Framework/ European Electronic Communications Code
- e-privacy directive
- Free flow of data
- Digital Infrastructure
- IT-security
- Roaming
- e-accessibility / e-inclusion / e-government
- Internet Governance (ICANN / IANA)
- CWP Telecommunications and Information Society
- Communications Committee (COCOM), Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) and Radio Spectrum Committee (RSC)
- CWP Audiovisual
- Revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive
- Liberalization of postal services
- CWP Postal Services
BUSINESS LAW:
- Intellectual and industrial property rights (copyright, patent, utility model and design patents, trademarks, WIPO)
- Corporate, Accounting Law
- Law against Unfair Competition
- Insurance Law including automobile liability insurance
ENERGY POLICY:
- Horizontal issues of energy policy
- Climate and energy policy 2030
- Energy security
- Internal energy market, in particular electricity and gas
- Energy grids and infrastructures
- Renewable energies
- Energy efficiency
- Energy labelling and ecodesign
- External energy policies (incl. Energy Charta, Energy Community)
- Energy technologies
- Nuclear policy (nuclear safety and security, radiation protection, disposal)
Head of department: Norbert Schultes