Year: 2016

English sparkling wine industry toasts export record

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English sparkling wine industry toasts export record

UK-produced premium fizz now sold to 27 countries as industry nets sales of £100m a year. The rise of English sparkling wine from a novelty to a major player in the global drinks market continues, with home-produced premium fizz now exported to a record 27 countries. Figures published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs reveal the number of countries receiving cases of British bubbly, which makes up nearly 70% of the UK’s total wine production, was up from 19 in 2015, with exports heading to destinations such…

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Flemish businessmen no confidence in Michel

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Flemish businessmen no confidence in Michel

The Belgian economy has indeed a multitude of appealing factors as we go forward into 2017. However, Flemish businessmen are not in the least reassured. This emerges from a Voka survey, cited yesterday (Thursday) in De Morgen and Het Laatste Nieuws. The survey reveals, “Seven out of ten businessmen do not see Michel giving the economy a new impetus over the next year.” Hans Maertens from Voka says, “Almost nobody sees the government being ousted, but barely 22% think that it will find a new momentum in 2017.” He goes…

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Record 43 refugees per day acknowledged as entering Belgium

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Record 43 refugees per day acknowledged as entering Belgium

De Tijd and L’Echo reported yesterday (Thursday) that Belgium has had an acknowledged record number of 43 refugees entering Belgium per day this year. This record number is explained by the response this year to applications from people who actually arrived last year, during the refugee crisis. This year, 14,241 asylum seekers were acknowledged as refugees. These figures were produced at the end of November by the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons, the independent body which decides the eligibility of asylum seekers for refugee status. The body notes…

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François Hollande pardons woman for murder of husband

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François Hollande pardons woman for murder of husband

Jacqueline Sauvage receives presidential pardon and is released from prison in ‘strong message’ to domestic abuse victims. A French woman who was convicted of murdering her allegedly violent husband has been freed from prison after a second intervention from the country’s president. Two hours after François Hollande gave her a complete pardon, Jacqueline Sauvage, 69, was seen leaving a prison southeast of Paris after spending more than three years behind bars. Hollande had issued a partial pardon at the end of January, but the courts twice rejected applications for her…

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UK in 2030: older, more unequal and blighted by Brexit, report predicts

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UK in 2030: older, more unequal and blighted by Brexit, report predicts

IPPR says leaving EU will require painful trade-offs, adding to challenges of ageing population and automation of jobs. Britain faces a decade of disruption after Brexit with low growth, stagnating incomes for the poor and the public finances at breaking point, according to a bleak analysis by a leading thinktank. The report, Britain in the 2020s, by the Institute of Public Policy Research, says Brexit will “profoundly reshape the UK … painful trade-offs are almost certain. Growth is expected to be lower, investment rates worse, and the public finances weaker…

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The majority of developed countries should bear their share of responsibility in accommodating refugees

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The majority of developed countries should bear their share of responsibility in accommodating refugees

Mutual concerns for Belgium and Australia, in particular immigration, were considered over a working lunch between the Belgian and Australian ministers for foreign affairs, Didier Reynders and Julie Bishop. Their exchanges revolved around “global shared issues such as security, international terrorism and a thorough debate upon immigration,” Minister Reynders explained to the Belga press agency, upon coming out of the meeting. The Liberal minister is of the opinion that it is in the interests of both parties to exchange ideas on practices around migration, especially as to how each should…

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Belgium’s five largest employers to fill 6,000 positions in 2017

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Belgium’s five largest employers to fill 6,000 positions in 2017

The five largest employers in Belgium between them anticipate filling some 6,000 posts in 2017. This has been calculated by the newspapers Het Nieuwsblad and De Standaard and published today. The Colruyt Group thus anticipates recruiting 3,000 workers. Indeed bpost (which is seeking drivers and mail sorters), Proximus (Big Data specialists and information security), BNP Paribas Fortis and the Colruyt Group anticipate recruiting 4,000 workers between the four of them. SNCB and Infrabel are, taken together, likely to hire between 1,800 and 2,200 individuals by the end of 2017. HR…

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Bad Santa from Polyakov’s Noosphere ventures comes to Brussels

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Bad Santa from Polyakov’s Noosphere ventures comes to Brussels

It is increasingly becoming popular to put pressure on media and target journalists personally once those with power and money do not like what is being said or written. Trump’s notion of rigged system and spoiled mainstream media makes it even easier for the oppressors. It seems that some businessmen from Ukraine followed the call. Gifts were packed, tickets checked, greetings cards were sent. Everything seemed to be ready for a vacation. Then enlightening came: I have to check the spambox. Never follow those sudden impulses. But what’s done is…

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Brussels Airport is not opposed to become shareholder in Charleroi Airport

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Brussels Airport is not opposed to become shareholder in Charleroi Airport

The CEO of Brussels Airport Company, responsible for managing the national airport, confimed in L’Echo today (Tuesday) that he is not absolutely against an agreement with Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA). Arnaud Feist stated in the daily newspaper, “In recent years, we have spoken of landing a potential agreement with Charleroi. We are not against this. However, I do not think that the Walloon region has any interest in this taking place. As for our owning a shareholding, I do not think that this is on the agenda as far…

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Brussels region calls into question European accounting straitjacket

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Brussels region calls into question European accounting straitjacket

Three Brussels deputies of various political hues (the PS, the Greens and the Open Vld) have tabled a joint motion for a resolution arguing for the revision of the European budgetary straitjacket. The straitjacket is considered too limited to make investment possible. This was reported in Le Soir yesterday (Monday). The draft resolution brought before the parliament by Charles Picqué (PS, the President of the assembly), Isabelle Durant (the French-speaking Ecolo Green party, part of the opposition) and Stefaan Cornelis (the Open Vld, within the coalition) are arguing in favour…

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