The Council presidency and European Parliament’s negotiators reached a provisional agreement today on one of the proposals of the so-called ‘Omnibus I’ legislative package: a regulation, which simplifies and strengthens the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). The proposal seeks to provide simplification and cost-efficient compliance improvements to the CBAM regulation, without compromising its climate goals, as about 99% of embedded emissions in the imported CBAM goods would remain covered. The overall aim is to reduce the regulatory and administrative burden, as well as compliance...

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Keynote speech by Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the SRB Legal Conference 2025 Thank you for your kind invitation. It is a pleasure to join you this morning to discuss the key obstacles to completing the single European market from the ECB’s perspective. 40 years ago Jacques Delors presented a now-famous "White Paper", outlining a bold and comprehensive vision for completing the single European market. This historic...

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Today, the European Commission proposes measures to speed up defence investments and production to make the EU more responsive to today's security challenges, as outlined in the Commission's White Paper for European Defence-Readiness 2030. The measures, laid down in a Defence Readiness Omnibus, aim to help Member States and industry scale up defence capabilities and infrastructure to reach the levels of readiness required to prepare for and thereby deter a high intensity conflict. The measures reduce red tape, facilitate investments in defence...

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High Trade and Investment Barriers Pose Threat to Mobilizing Financing for Development WASHINGTON, June 16, 2025—Flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing economies—a key propellant of economic growth and higher living standards—have dwindled to the lowest level since 2005 amid rising trade and investment barriers, new research from the World Bank shows. These barriers pose a significant threat to global efforts to mobilize financing for development. In 2023, the latest year for which data are available, developing economies received just...

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By Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank For the euro to reach its full potential, Europe must strengthen three foundational pillars: geopolitical credibility, economic resilience and legal and institutional integrity. We are witnessing a profound shift in the global order: Open markets and multilateral rules are fracturing, and even the dominant role of the US dollar, the cornerstone of the system, is no longer certain. Protectionism, zero-sum thinking and bilateral power plays are taking their place. Uncertainty is harming...

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The State of the Digital Decade 2025 report offers a comprehensive overview of the EU’s digital transformation. The Commission’s State of the Digital Decade 2025 report shows that each Member State has adopted a roadmap detailing the actions and budget to advance their digital transformation in line with the Commission’s recommendations following last year’s report. Main findings The third annual report assesses the EU’s progress along the four pillars for the EU’s digital transformation, highlighting achievements and gaps while proposing concrete recommendations...

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By Yan Liu, General Counsel and Director of the Legal Department, IMF Greater debt transparency builds investor confidence, helps reduce borrowing costs, and strengthens debt sustainability—reducing the risk of shocks that can lead to a debt crisis Public debt is projected to reach nearly 100 percent of global gross domestic product by the end of this decade, surpassing even pandemic-level highs. Governments, particularly those in emerging market and developing economies, face both mounting debt service costs and shrinking room to maneuver...

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Keynote speech by Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB, at the annual Joint Conference of the European Commission and the European Central Bank on European financial integration Introduction I am once again delighted to speak at the annual joint conference of the European Commission and the European Central Bank on European financial integration. This is an important event for us as we come together to appraise and advance financial integration in Europe. The recent sea change in US economic policy and...

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The European Commission has invited citizens and stakeholders to contribute to the development of a European blueprint for savings and investments accounts. This initiative, part of the Savings and Investments Union strategy, aims to facilitate citizens' participation in capital markets, enhancing returns on their savings while increasing funding available for EU companies to help them grow, innovate and create jobs. The Commission's call for evidence seeks input on best practices to make savings and investments accounts a convenient entry point to...

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