On 13 December 2016, the Council approved the EU's legislative priorities for 2017 as agreed beforehand with the European Parliament and the Commission. This will help the three EU institutions to pool their efforts and to ensure substantial progress in fields where they are most needed. A joint declaration setting out the EU priorities will be signed by the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the President of the Parliament, Martin Schulz, and the President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker...

Read more

The recent agreement in Cyprus means that the EFSI guarantee is now helping to boost investment throughout the EU. The European Commission welcomes the news that, with the agreement in Cyprus, the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is now helping to boost investment, support jobs and spur growth in all 28 Member States. Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: "The EFSI has already proven to be a crucial first step towards returning investment levels...

Read more

The European Commission today adopted its long-term plan to give fresh impetus to the management of the Customs Union, a basic pillar of the European Union which supports and protects the Single Market. The role of customs authorities in ensuring our safety and security in the EU is increasing. A strong and well managed system helps to protect the public against terrorist, health, and environmental threats while at the same time fostering and developing competitive businesses. Today's Communication sets out...

Read more

The European Commission reported on progress towards achieving full visa reciprocity with Canada and the United States, evaluating the developments over the past five months. Since the last report, following contacts at political and technical level, the EU and Canada have agreed a clear timeline for achieving full visa waiver reciprocity. There have, however, not been comparable indications of progress with the United States, despite sustained efforts. Migration, Home Affairs, and Citizenship Commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said: “Guaranteeing full visa reciprocity with...

Read more

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has presented today the results of a peer review, it conducted into how national competent authorities (NCAs) ensure that central counterparties (CCPs) comply with margin and collateral requirements under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). The report identified a number of areas where supervisory approaches differ between NCAs and includes recommendations to improve consistency in supervisory practices. ESMA compared the supervisory approaches of the 16 NCAs supervising the 17 CCPs established in the...

Read more

The Commission is today proposing to strengthen the operational effectiveness and efficiency of the Schengen Information System (SIS), as announced in the Communication setting out the way forward towards the achievement of an effective and sustainable EU Security Union and as reiterated in President Juncker's State of the Union Address. Consulted 2.9 billion times in 2015, SIS is the most widely used information sharing system for border management and security in Europe. The proposed improvements will further enhance the ability...

Read more

The European Commission today adopted its long-term plan to give fresh impetus to the management of the Customs Union, a basic pillar of the European Union which supports and protects the Single Market. The role of customs authorities in ensuring our safety and security in the EU is increasing. A strong and well managed system helps to protect the public against terrorist, health, and environmental threats while at the same time fostering and developing competitive businesses. Today's Communication sets out...

Read more

  184 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 28 countries have been selected for funding in the latest round of the Horizon2020 SME Instrument. The funding is provided under Phase 1 of the instrument, which means that each project will receive €50,000 to finance feasibility studies for new products that can disrupt the market. They can also ask for up to three days of free business coaching In this fourth and last round in 2016, the European Commission received 2091 proposals by...

Read more

The latest annual review of Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) published today shows encouraging results. Around 3 million jobs have been created and employment has risen, pushing back poverty. However, unemployment remains high, with huge disparities across Member States. Labour markets and societies will need to adapt to new forms of work. This year's Employment and Social Developments – or shortly, 'ESDE' - report focussed on employment as a means to tackle poverty, digitalisation and the changing world of...

Read more

Italy’s banking problem has been left unaddressed for too long. Similar to Japan in the 1990s, it is best understood as a combination of structural and cyclical factors. Most of Italy’s banks, many of which are small and local, have politicized governance features that blur commercial incentives. As a consequence, they were unable to rein in their lending during the downturn of the late 2000s. Many of these loans turned sour in subsequent years and local connections prevented the banks from...

Read more