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Business in Europe

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The first edition of EUobserver's Business in Europe magazine looks at business and industry in Europe.

NO LARGE IMPACT ON SALES

NO LARGE IMPACT ON SALES Looking at the car industry as a whole, the dieselgate scandal, which broke in September 2015, seems not to have had a direct impact on sales. Manufacturers Association (ACEA), passenger car sales worldwide were up by 2 percent. For Europe, “The EU market continued its positive performance and ended 2015 extremely strongly, thanks to economic improvement and better macro conditions,” ACEA said. “With 13.7 million passenger cars sold, results for the full year were consistently higher (up 9.3%) than in 2014.” Visitors reliving the past in the Skoda Museum than 2015, with car manufacturers selling 9.1 percent more cars in April 2016 than the same month a year there is a new scandal involving an issue closer to In the Skoda Museum in Mlada Boleslav, one room explained the process of restoring old cars. The museum boasts that the old cars were “part of our cultural heritage”. “This room reveals the love, dedication and precision with which we maintain and restore cars,” it said, “the same competence and passion”. Those who care about the car industry will hope such warm words will be taken as a call to action. Cleaner at work in front of the Skoda Museum in Mlada Boleslav 16 — BUSINESS IN EUROPE JUNE 2016

IS THE‘CIRCULAR ECONOMY’ A RESTRAINT ON BUSINESS, OR AN OPPORTUNITY? Waste collection and recycling is going to be ramped up, and that will translate into circular business opportunities. By Dave Keating Only around 40% of the waste produced by EU households is recycled. Photo: Chiang Benjamin Acular economy” strategy, issued last year, seems like bad news for businesses. In effect, it is telling us to spend and use less. share one with your neighbour. buy. Buying has long been the centre of the Western the “throw-away society”. We buy something, use it until it breaks, throw it out and buy a new version. The European Commission is proposing an alternative economic model. “Our planet and our economy cannot survive if we approach,” said Frans Timmermans, the commis- age at the end of 2015. “We need to retain precious resources and fully exploit all the economic value within them.” The Commission has been keen to stress that the new economic model is not a punishment or a restraint, but rather an opportunity to squeeze out the tion and use process. But is it really? GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS For those manufacturers who some suspect engage in “planned obsolescence” – deliberately designing products to stop working earlier than they need to – this might be bad news. Under the circular economy model a manufacturer is liable for dealing with their old products once they stop working, rather than having the taxpayer foot BUSINESS IN EUROPE JUNE 2016 — 17

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