Europe remains in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic. The resurgence in the number of cases, together with the appearance of new, more contagious strains of the coronavirus, have forced many Member States to reintroduce or tighten containment measures. At the same time, the start of vaccination programmes throughout the EU provides grounds for cautious optimism. Economic growth poised to recover as containment measures ease The Winter 2021 Economic Forecast projects that the euro area economy will grow by 3.8% in both 2021...

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The ability to renew your passport or driver’s license, pay a tax bill, or access government data with the click of a button or swipe of a screen, anytime and anywhere, has grown more important during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent the spread of the virus. Beyond the obvious efficiency and transparency gains that digital government services provide, “e-government” can actually make an economy more attractive to foreign investors. Recent IMF staff research has linked―for the first time―the accessibility of government information and...

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Biggest building block of the Next Generation EU stimulus package €672.5 billion in grants and loans to curb the effects of the pandemic Funds will support key policy areas such as green transition, digital transformation, crisis preparedness as well as children and youth Respect for rule of law and the EU’s fundamental values a prerequisite to receive funding On Wednesday, Parliament approved the Recovery and Resilience Facility, designed to help EU countries tackle the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The...

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The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday announced the second extension of a rule to bolster the effectiveness of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Like the earlier extensions, this one will temporarily modify the Board's rules so that certain bank directors and shareholders can apply to their banks for PPP loans for their small businesses. To prevent favoritism, the Board limits the types and quantity of loans that bank directors, shareholders, officers, and businesses owned by these...

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Speech by Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at a Bruegel online seminar | Throughout history, innovations in money have challenged and altered the structure of the financial system. Time and time again, innovations have given rise to debates about the risks they pose and the rewards they bring, as well as the role of central banks in building confidence in money. Paper banknotes are a case in point. As they were easy to carry, they made...

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Rule Expected to Protect the Economic Interests of American Workers | WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced a final rule that will modify the H-1B cap selection process, amend current lottery procedures, and prioritize wages to protect the economic interests of U.S. workers and better ensure the most highly skilled foreign workers benefit from the temporary employment program. Modifying the H-1B cap selection process will incentivize employers to offer higher salaries, and/or petition for higher-skilled positions, and establish a more certain path...

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The Portuguese IP office (INPI) is organising a virtual high-level conference on Intellectual Property and Digital Transition, on 11 February 2021. Under the theme of ‘The Intellectual Property metamorphosis in the Age of Digital Transition - Remember the past, Act in the Present, and Reflect on the challenges of the Future’, the conference will focus on two central themes: digital transition and intellectual property. The event has been organised within the framework of activities of Portugal’s presidency of the Council of the...

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To relaunch and strengthen the strategic partnership between the European Union and its Southern Neighbourhood partners, the European Commission and the High Representative today adopted a joint communication proposing an ambitious and innovative new Agenda for the Mediterranean. The new Agenda is based on the conviction that by working together and in a spirit of partnership, common challenges can be turned into opportunities, in the mutual interest of the EU and its Southern neighbours. It includes a dedicated Economic and Investment...

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Interview with Le Journal du Dimanche | There’s been a glut of bad news throughout Europe recently. How can we hold to the economic projections? Uncertainties are indeed multiplying. As far as the economists at the ECB can remember, there have never been as many. Our projections are published every three months. One way of preserving a degree of optimism despite the current circumstances is simply to think back to the ECB’s projections released in September 2020 and the multiple uncertainties...

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