The European Commission has today proposed a debt-equity bias reduction allowance, or DEBRA, to help businesses access the financing they need and to become more resilient. This measure will support businesses by introducing an allowance that will grant to equity the same tax treatment as debt. The proposal stipulates that increases in a taxpayer's equity from one tax year to the next will be deductible from its taxable base, similarly to what happens to debt. This initiative is part of...

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Today, the European Commission has adopted a reform of the current EU rules on Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services, which govern financial services sold at a distance. The Proposal will strengthen consumer rights and foster the cross-border provision of financial services in the single market. This market has significantly evolved in light of the overall digitalisation of the sector and the new types of financial services that have been developed since the rules were first introduced in 2002....

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Today, EU Member States, with the support of the European Commission and ENISA, the EU Agency for Cybersecurity, published a report on the cybersecurity of Open RAN. This new type of 5G network architecture will in the coming years provide an alternative way of deploying the radio access part of 5G networks based on open interfaces. This marks another major step in the coordinated work at EU level on the cybersecurity of 5G networks, demonstrating a strong determination to...

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Daily average borrowing turnover in the unsecured segment decreased from €138 billion in the first maintenance period of 2022 to €137 billion in the second maintenance period of 2022 Weighted average overnight rate on borrowing transactions in the unsecured segment remained stable at -0.56% for the wholesale sector and decreased from -0.57% to -0.58% for the interbank sector Daily average borrowing turnover in the secured segment decreased from €429 billion to €404 billion, with a weighted average overnight...

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The European Committee of the Regions and European Commission held the 4th meeting of the Broadband Platform on 6 May, focusing on ways to improve the digital infrastructure in the European Union by adding the concept of digital cohesion to the ones of social, economic and territorial cohesion recognised by the Treaties. The Covid-19 pandemic and the worsening geopolitical context caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine have shown how important technology and digital tools are to help citizens to...

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What are the results of the Conference on the Future of Europe? The results of the Conference are presented in the report on the outcome of the Conference, handed over to the Presidents of the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission on 9 May 2022. The centrepiece is the 49 proposals for the future of Europe set out in that report, covering nine topics: climate change and the environment; health; a stronger economy, social justice and jobs; EU...

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Digital money is reaching a crossroad, where today’s policy and regulatory choices will affect the evolution of the monetary and payments landscape. Should future money in circulation be mostly publicly issued in the form of central bank digital currency (CBDC) or privately issued, or is there space for a healthy balance of the two? How do trends in “private” crypto assets affect plans to develop CBDC? This seminar will explore these and other questions with high-level policymakers from around...

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Speech by Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at Bruegel | Introduction There are three main analytical challenges in assessing the economic and inflation outlook for the euro area. First, the pandemic remains a first-order driving force. Over the winter, pandemic restrictions still limited economic activity in the euro area. While these restrictions are currently being lifted and case numbers are declining, the current set of restrictions in China is contributing to a further wave of...

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In order to unleash the full potential of health data, the European Commission is presenting a regulation to set up the European Health Data Space. This proposal supports individuals to take control of their own health data, supports the use of health data for better healthcare delivery, better research, innovation and policy making and enables the EU to make full use of the potential offered by a safe and secure exchange, use and reuse of health data. The European Health...

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Plenary adopts 49 proposals (more than 300 measures) for wide-ranging reforms Parliament’s delegation decided by broad majority to support the proposals MEPs will, based on citizens’ demands, seek to formally initiate amending the Treaties Citizens’ feedback on proposals overwhelmingly positive, plea for swift follow-up The Conference Plenary concluded its work, with MEPs expressing their approval of the outcome and announcing that Parliament intends to kick-start EU reforms. At its final meeting, that took place on Friday and Saturday at the...

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