Vice-President for Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight, Maroš Šefčovič, and Jan Christian Vestre, Norway's Minister of Trade and Industry, have released the following joint statement on enhanced political and industrial cooperation on the strategic value chains of batteries and raw materials. The European Union and Norway enjoy a deep and long-standing relationship as neighbours and partners, sharing common political objectives and fundamental values, while being part of the Single Market through the European Economic Area (EEA). Given the urgent need to tackle...

Read more

II. UKRAINE 4. The European Council discussed the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in its different dimensions. The European Council reiterates that it firmly stands with Ukraine and that the European Union will continue to provide strong support for Ukraine’s overall economic, military, social and financial resilience, including humanitarian aid. 5. The European Council resolutely condemns Russia’s indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and urges Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its troops and military equipment from the...

Read more

The aviation sector, like many others, has been heavily impacted by the COVID shock. It is now confronted with the fall-out of Russia's military actions against Ukraine. But we must look ahead. Gone are the days when the aviation sector ignored its responsibility for global warming. Just recall the commitments taken as part of “Destination 2050”. For the first time, the sector presented a pathway for a climate neutral sector that combines new technologies, improved operations, sustainable aviation fuels and economic...

Read more

The IMF’s Global Financial Stability Report, introduced in 2002, was a step toward a more comprehensive assessment of risks in financial markets and cross-border capital flows. Twenty years ago, the IMF released its inaugural Global Financial Stability Report to strengthen surveillance of financial markets after a series of crises in emerging market economies and the dot-com bust. This semiannual publication by the Monetary and Capital Markets Department has since evolved through years of seismic shifts in the global...

Read more

Russia’s war against Ukraine threatens to create a global wave of hunger. We must urgently enable Ukraine to export its grains through the Black Sea. We also see a “battle of narratives” around Russian grains and fertilizer exports. While our sanctions do not target these exports, we are ready to work with the UN and our partners to prevent any unwanted impact on global food security. "The war of aggression against Ukraine puts the world in danger of a famine...

Read more

Keynote speech by Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, 10th Annual Conference on Bank Steering & Bank Management at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management | I understand that today’s audience includes managers and experts from banks and banking associations, supervisors, academics and students. So this is an ideal platform for exchanging views on the financial sector’s role in addressing the risks of the ongoing climate...

Read more

Following dialogues with the Commission and the network of national consumer protection (CPC) authorities, TikTok has committed to align its practices with the EU rules on advertising and consumer protection, namely, the Unfair commercial practices Directive, the Consumer rights Directive and the Unfair contract terms Directive.  This dialogue first originated from a complaint of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC). In February 2021, BEUC raised the alarm regarding certain problematic practices of TikTok allegedly breaching EU consumer rules. For instance,...

Read more

"Check against delivery" Good morning everybody. It's great to be here in Riga today. We are going through an energy crisis that threatens our climate goals and energy security and independence all in one. The ripple effects of the Russian aggression in Ukraine have kick started a huge change in our geopolitical environment. In recent days and weeks, Russia has again and again demonstrated that it is an unreliable supplier who uses energy as a political weapon – trying to single out...

Read more

The European Commission has today adopted a Communication setting out how it can follow up on the outcome of the Conference on the Future of Europe. After a year of deliberations, the Conference came to an end on 9 May 2022. In the closing ceremony in Strasbourg, the Presidents of the European Parliament, Commission and Council received a final report from the Conference participants containing 49 wide-ranging, ambitious and forward-looking proposals and 326 individual measures. These proposals, covering nine broad themes,...

Read more

Today, the European Commission presented its Opinions on the application for EU membership submitted by Ukraine, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova as invited by the Council. Today's Opinions are based on the Commission's assessment in light of the three sets of criteria to join the EU agreed by the European Council: political criteria, economic criteria and the ability of the country to assume the obligations of EU membership (EU acquis). The Opinions also take into account Ukraine, Moldova...

Read more