European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Deputy Managing Director, Carla Grasso, met on March 14, 2016 in Brussels to discuss the further strengthening of the EC-IMF partnership. The EC and the IMF are natural strategic partners, with both institutions having a long track record of supporting economic reforms in their developing partners (EU) and member countries (IMF), including, for example, in the areas of  mobilizing domestic revenue, improving public financial management, and...

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Opinion piece by Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the ECB, 11 March 2016 This week the ECB adopted new measures to reinforce its monetary policy in the face of recent headwinds. That decision was taken against a backdrop of vocal scepticism in the media and markets. The sceptics’ reasoning is two-pronged. First, that monetary policy is not sufficient to address the present low growth trend; and second, that monetary policy is increasingly ineffective in any case. The notion that monetary policy alone cannot...

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Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the ECB, Frankfurt am Main, 10 March 2016 Ladies and gentlemen, the Vice-President and I are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. We will now report on the outcome of today’s meeting of the Governing Council, which was also attended by the Commission Vice-President, Mr Dombrovskis. Based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we have conducted a thorough review of the monetary policy stance, in which we also...

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President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau share a common vision of a prosperous and sustainable North American economy, and the opportunities afforded by advancing clean growth.  They emphasize and embrace the special relationship between the two countries and their history of close collaboration on energy development, environmental protection, and Arctic leadership.  The two leaders regard the Paris Agreement as a turning point in global efforts to combat climate change and anchor economic growth in clean development.  They...

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Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the ECB, Frankfurt, Main, 10 March 2016 Ladies and gentlemen, the Vice-President and I are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. We will now report on the outcome of today’s meeting of the Governing Council, which was also attended by the Commission Vice-President, Mr Dombrovskis. Based on our regular economic and monetary analyses, we have conducted a thorough review of the monetary policy stance, in which we also took into account...

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The European Commission and the European Supervisory Authorities should conduct an in-depth assessment of the effect of increasing capital requirements in current and future legislation on credit supply, especially to small and medium sized companies, Parliament says in a resolution on the state of the Banking Union which was adopted on Thursday. MEPs support the necessity of a well-capitalised banking system, while noting that the risk of limiting banks' lending capacity should be carefully assessed when determining the level of...

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The EU in 2015 Do you want to know what the EU achieved in 2015? What progress it made in delivering on its priorities? The measures it took to boost jobs, growth and investment? The part it played in the climate deal achieved in Paris? How it handled the refugee crisis? And how EU citizens benefited from the Union? You can find the answers to all these questions and more in The EU in 2015.

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