The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in the largest decrease in taxes on wages since the global financial crisis of 2008-09, according to a new OECD report. Taxing Wages 2021 shows that declining household incomes coupled with tax reforms linked to the pandemic are driving widespread declines in effective taxes on wages across the OECD. The report highlights record falls across the OECD during 2020 in the tax wedge – the total taxes on labour paid by both employees and employers, minus...

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Universal, accessible, timely and free-of-charge testing needed across the EU EU COVID-19 certificates are not travel documents Member states should not impose quarantines/tests on certificate holders On Thursday, Parliament adopted its negotiating position on the proposal for a certificate to reaffirm the right to free movement in Europe during the pandemic. MEPs agreed that the new “EU COVID-19 certificate” - instead of Digital Green Certificate, as proposed by the Commission - should be in place for 12 months and not...

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Euro area net saving decreased to €508 billion in four quarters to fourth quarter of 2020, from €549 billion one quarter earlier Household debt-to-income ratio increased to 96.3% in fourth quarter of 2020 from 93.8% one year earlier Non-financial corporations' debt-to-GDP ratio (consolidated measure) at 84.0% in fourth quarter of 2020, up from 76.8% one year earlier Total euro area economy Euro area net saving decreased to €508 billion (5.6% of euro area net disposable income) in 2020 compared with €549 billion in the four quarters to the...

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Keynote speech by Frank Elderson, Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board and Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the conference on “The Role of Banks in Greening Our Economies” organised by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Hrvatska narodna banka | It is a great honour for me to be with you today to discuss the role of banks in greening the economy. And I am very happy to delve into the topic of climate change...

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The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time, thereby promoting its maximum employment and price stability goals. The COVID-19 pandemic is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world. Amid progress on vaccinations and strong policy support, indicators of economic activity and employment have strengthened. The sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic remain weak but have shown improvement. Inflation has...

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Today, the Commission is adopting the first EU Strategy on voluntary return and reintegration. The Strategy promotes voluntary return and reintegration as an integral part of a common EU system for returns, a key objective under the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. It sets out practical measures to strengthen the legal and operational framework for voluntary returns from Europe and from transit countries, improve the quality of return and reintegration programmes, establish better links with development initiatives and strengthen cooperation...

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In his speech at the Leaders' Summit on Climate hosted by US President Joe Biden on 22 April, European Council President Charles Michel highlighted the EU's leadership in fighting climate change and its binding target of 55% emissions reduction by 2030. He also stressed the need for a global approach to carbon pricing and urged all developed countries to scale up their contributions to climate finance. A global approach to carbon pricing is paramount to promoting green investment. If we...

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EACC New York is inviting European countries, member states and non-member states, to share some fun facts about their country with the EACC network to showcase their home country’s cultural beauty, economic strengths, and their role in transatlantic trade & investment. In conjunction with Portugal's Presidency of the Council of the European Union, we present a profile of the country of PORTUGAL. A quick fun fact about your country: According to The Global Peace Index, Portugal is the 3rd safest country in...

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