Speech by Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Rome Investment Forum 2020 | Rome, 14 December 2020 | 2020 has been a year like no other. We have faced an economic contraction without precedent in peacetime: in the first half of this year output in the euro area declined by more than 15%. But we have also seen a collective response that has no precedent in the history of our monetary union. That response has...

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Speech by President von der Leyen on 12 December 2020, Brussels | "Check against delivery" Dear guests of the Climate Ambition Summit! 55% – That is now indeed Europe's calling card. I am glad that the 27 European Leaders have signed up to the European Commission's proposal for taking climate action to a new level of ambition. Together with the agreement on our next 7-year-budget, the 55% agreement is the go-ahead for scaling up climate action across our economy and society. We have...

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Central banks have played a pivotal role in easing financial conditions in response to the COVID-19 shock, and helped avert a catastrophic downturn. However, their work is far from done. Yet more monetary stimulus will be needed to support economic recovery, and central banks are implementing innovative new strategies to provide it. Policymakers must weigh the pros of more stimulus today against the cons of higher financial stability risks in the future. While the new approaches are both necessary and welcome, it...

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Today, the European Commission proposes to modernise EU legislation on batteries, delivering its first initiative among the actions announced in the new Circular Economy Action Plan. Batteries that are more sustainable throughout their life cycle are key for the goals of the European Green Deal and contribute to the zero pollution ambition set in it. They promote competitive sustainability and are necessary for green transport, clean energy and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The proposal addresses the social, economic and environmental...

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In a continuous effort to help countries manage volatile cross-border capital flows, the IMF has taken a major step toward a new analytical macroeconomic framework that can guide appropriate policy responses. The work reflects evolving thinking on macroeconomic policy and will feed into the upcoming review of the IMF’s Institutional View on the Liberalization and Management of Capital Flows, which currently guides the Fund’s advice and assessments of members’ policies. Our analysis suggests that there is no “one-size-fits-all” response to capital...

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The European Commission presented today its ‘Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy' together with an Action Plan of 82 initiatives that will guide our work for the next four years. This strategy lays the foundation for how the EU transport system can achieve its green and digital transformation and become more resilient to future crises. As outlined in the European Green Deal, the result will be a 90% cut in emissions by 2050, delivered by a smart, competitive, safe, accessible and affordable transport...

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Tax administrations are playing a critical role as governments deal with the economic recovery from COVID-19 following an unprecedented global crisis. Today, senior officials from the 53 members of the OECD Forum on Tax Administration, which includes all OECD and G20 members, agreed an ambitious agenda for the next year, focused on enhancing resilience and tax certainty as well as the digital transformation of tax administrations. The Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) held its virtual plenary meeting on 7-8 December 2020 bringing...

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