Would learning about the EU at school help to better understand what it is really all about? On Monday 11 April MEPs debate a non-legislative report calling on member states to have schools teach more about European issues to enable people to better engage with the EU. They will vote on it the following day. We spoke to report author Damian Drăghici, a Romanian member of the S&D group, ahead of the debate. In your report you say that if...

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Dr Andreas Dombret Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank | Keynote remarks delivered at the Harvard Law School Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Europe and the US  Dear Professor Scott, Dear Ladies and Gentlemen 2016 marks the 30th anniversary of the Program on International Financial Systems. That's about the age when young people begin to realise that smoking, drinking and working late hours won't leave their physique unscathed....

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The European economy is now entering its fourth year of recovery and growth continues at a moderate rate, driven mainly by consumption. In the near term, I expect investment to gradually pick up as well, as demand increases, as businesses put their machinery back to work, and as profits increase thanks to lower energy prices and cheap credit. The Investment Plan for Europe will also start to have a positive impact on public and private investment. Given these favourable conditions,...

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Today's Action Plan is the first step towards a single EU VAT area which is equipped to tackle fraud, to support business and help the digital economy and e-commerce. The European Commission has presented an Action Plan setting out ways to reboot the current EU VAT system to make it simpler, more fraud-proof and business-friendly. The current VAT rules urgently need to be updated so they can better support the Single Market, facilitate cross-border trade and keep pace with today's digital...

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Benchmarks are widely used to track market developments. As many financial transactions are linked to them, they can determine who benefits from investing in a particular financial product. However, financial scandals involving benchmarks such as Libor and Eurobibor have shown that they are susceptible to manipulation.On 7 April the economic affairs committee votes on new rules to ensure the full transparency of all benchmarks used in the EU. Watch the committee meeting live online on Thursday 7 April from 9.00...

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Speech by European Commission Vice-President Ansip, in charge of the Digital Single Market, at DIGITALEUROPE's event Europe's Digital Prospects: Masters of Digital or Mastered by Digital? in Brussels Ladies and gentlemen, Industry is the main driving force of Europe's economy. It manufactures, it employs and exports. To keep up as the world turns more digital, it will have to turn more digital itself. In the future, all industrial sectors must make the best use of new technologies. Transport to telecom equipment, factories to farming, high-tech...

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Commission invests over €7.5 million under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund to boost innovation, growth and jobs in the marine and maritime sectors. The European Commission is investing over €7.5 million to boost innovation and create jobs in the marine and maritime sectors. The money is available under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and divided in calls for proposal focusing on the key areas where the European Union can have the biggest impact: skills, creativity and technology. Innovation in...

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At the heart of the continent’s numerous crises is a broken democracy. Here’s how to fix it. By Thomas Piketty, Jeremy Adelman, Anne-Laure Delatte | April 4, 2016   The old world is in trouble. A prolonged economic slump, a debt crisis it can’t shake, malaise in the face of the humanitarian catastrophe generated by waves of asylum-seekers from the Middle East and North Africa, and security institutions seemingly incapable of keeping citizens safe — together, they have revealed the crippled state of...

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April 3, 2016 His Excellency Mr. Alexis Tsipras Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic Athens, Greece Dear Prime Minister, Thank you for your letter of April 2, in which you ask about the IMF’s position regarding the program negotiations with Greece. My view of the ongoing negotiations is that we are still a good distance away from having a coherent program that I can present to our Executive Board. I have on many occasions stressed that we can only support a program that is credible...

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