It is a pleasure and a privilege to speak to you today under the aegis of the Bruegel Institute. Your contributions to the debate on Europe do not go unnoticed; they have an impact. European strategic autonomy. Or sovereignty? Or strength? We all know that concepts and words can take on different connotations depending on the context. Today I’d like to concentrate on the substance behind the words. But first of all, I’d like to avoid laying myself open to...

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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. Economic activity and employment have picked up in recent months but remain well below their levels at the beginning of the year. Weaker demand and significantly lower oil prices are holding down...

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The EACC chapter network recently asked its members across the network in Europe and the United States a series of questions to gauge how the pandemic was impacting their willingness to gauge in a range of activities. This repeated a survey we did a few months ago. We found some significant differences between Europe and the U.S. For example – overall, 57 percent of respondents said they had already or were prepared to return to their normal workplaces.  However, 73...

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The European Commission has today launched a new Customs Union Action Plan setting out a series of measures to make EU customs smarter, more innovative and more efficient over the next four years. The announced measures will strengthen the Customs Union as a cornerstone of the Single Market. They also confirm its major role in protecting EU revenues and the security, health and prosperity of EU citizens and businesses. In her political guidelines, President von der Leyen announced that the Customs Union...

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ECB phasing out secured marketable assets other than asset-backed securities, legislative covered bonds and multi-cédulas as collateral Application process and acceptance criteria for external credit assessment institutions clarified Amendments to treatment of breaches with respect to own fund requirements and reporting on capital ratios The European Central Bank (ECB) has today published amendments to its guidelines on the implementation of monetary policy in the Eurosystem, applicable from 1 January 2021. The amended guidelines implement a decision taken by the Governing...

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Keynote address by François Villeroy de Galhau, Gouverneur de la Banque de France, Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum webinar, 25 September 2020 | Good morning and welcome to this webinar, jointly organized by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum and the Banque de France. What better way to demonstrate the digital transformation than holding an event in cyberspace. It has been common in recent years to hear about disruptive technologies but over the past 6 months, information technology...

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Statement | 25 September 2020 | Brussels “The Commission has decided to appeal before the European Court of Justice the General Court's judgment of July 2020 on the Apple State aid case in Ireland, which annulled the Commission's decision of August 2016 finding that Ireland granted illegal State aid to Apple through selective tax breaks. The General Court judgment raises important legal issues that are of relevance to the Commission in its application of State aid rules to tax planning cases....

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Watch the webcast of the press conference | With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to threaten jobs, businesses and the health and well-being of millions amid exceptional uncertainty, building confidence will be crucial to ensure that economies recover and adapt, says the OECD’s Interim Economic Outlook. After an unprecedented collapse in the first half of the year, economic output recovered swiftly following the easing of containment measures and the initial re-opening of businesses, but the pace of recovery has lost some momentum more...

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The European Commission has today published a new, ambitious Action Plan to boost the European Union's Capital Markets Union (CMU) over the coming years. The EU's top priority today is to ensure that Europe recovers from the unprecedented economic crisis caused by coronavirus. Developing the EU's capital markets, and ensuring access to market financing, will be essential in this task. Large and integrated capital markets will facilitate the EU's recovery, making sure that businesses – in particular small and medium-sized...

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