The European Union was well-represented at the 2018 International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring Meetings that were held in Washington, DC from April 19-21. The EU signed a number of cooperation agreements with the IMF, WB, and Inter-American Development Bank, putting forward several initiatives to address some of the current global economic challenges, such as proposals to ensure a fair taxation of the digital sector and the upcoming launch of a new bond to advance sustainable development goals....

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The 2018 Pensions Adequacy Report, published today, analyses how current and future pensions help prevent old-age poverty and maintain the income of men and women for the duration of their retirement. It underlines that Member States pay more and more attention to sustainable, adequate pensions in their reforms, but further measures will be needed in the future. Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility commented: "Every retired person has the right to live in dignity. This is a...

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Aghion Philippe, Bergeaud Antonin, Lequien Matthieu, Melitz Marc J. Philippe Aghion, Antonin Bergeaud, Matthieu Lequien and Marc J. Melitz investigate the effect of export shocks on innovation. On the one hand a positive shock increases market size and therefore innovation incentives for all firms. On the other hand it increases competition as more firms enter the export market. This in turn reduces profits and therefore innovation incentives particularly for firms with low productivity. Overall the positive impact of the export shock on innovation...

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Brussels, 26 April 2018 Today, the Commission is proposing measures to tackle disinformation online, including an EU-wide Code of Practice on Disinformation, support for an independent network of fact-checkers, and a series of actions to stimulate quality journalism and promote media literacy. The recent Facebook/Cambridge Analytica revelations demonstrated exactly how personal data can be exploited in electoral contexts, and are a timely reminder that more is needed to secure resilient democratic processes. Today the European Commission is taking steps forward in...

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  This past week, European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager traveled to Washington, DC to participate in a series of meetings on antitrust law at the American Bar Association and gave a press conference at the EU Delegation to the U.S. "In Europe, you're more than welcome to have success; if people like your product, then this is the reason you grow," the Commissioner later said in an interview with CNBC, when questioned about Facebook and its potential status as a monopoly. "The thing...

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“France: economic developments and reforms, where are we heading?” Press contact: Mark Deen (mark.deen@banque-france.fr). Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very pleased and honoured to give this speech to the Economic Club of New York. The theme of my speech is “economic developments and reforms in France”. One year ago, you would probably not have suggested it. This shift tells something: France is currently going through exciting times and deserves a close scrutiny. . Before addressing the subtitle of my speech “where are we heading?”...

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The Commission is targeting the most damaging unfair trade practices to grant farmers and small and medium sized businesses greater certainty and less need to manage risks over which they have little or no control. The Commission proposes today to ban the more damaging unfair trading practices in the food supply chain to ensure fairer treat­ment for small and medium sized food and farming businesses. In addition, the proposal includes effective enforcement provisions: sanctions can be imposed by national authorities...

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The European Commission and the European Investment Fund (EIF) have launched a Pan-European Venture Capital Funds-of-Funds programme (VentureEU) to boost investment in innovative start-up and scale-up companies across Europe. Europe boasts a wealth of talent, world-class researchers and skilled entrepreneurs, but it can do better at turning that excellence into success stories. Access to risk capital for innovation plays a key role. Today, the Commission and the EIF are announcing six participating funds to receive EU support in their mission...

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Tomorrow the Commission will bring ministers, representatives of EU countries, industry, academia and civil society representatives together to encourage cooperation in artificial intelligence, blockchain, eHealth and innovation. Discussions will focus on how the technological developments will shape the future of Europe and building a strong Digital Single Market with increased investment and digital skills is crucial.  After last year's Digital Day in Rome that triggered successful cooperation in areas such as high-performance computing, connected mobility and the digitisation of industry, the Commission is...

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