On March 2, 2016, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Belgium. The recovery is expected to continue at a modest pace in the near term, driven primarily by private consumption, supported by continued low energy prices. However, downside risks loom large, including from the slowdown in emerging markets, financial volatility, and geopolitical stress. In its first year in office, the new government has taken important steps to promote competitiveness, job creation, and...

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The Commission today presented a detailed Roadmap of the concrete steps needed to return order to the management of the EU's external and internal borders. The creation of the Schengen area without internal borders has brought important benefits to European citizens and business alike, yet in recent months the system has been severely tested by the refugee crisis. The European Council of 18-19 February set the clear mandate of restoring the normal functioning of the Schengen area, and to...

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Speech by Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete: follow-up to COP21 at the public session of the Environment Council Ministers, It is a pleasure to address you today following the adoption of the Commission's Communication on the Paris Agreement and its implications for EU climate and energy policy. I would like to thank Minister Dijksma and the Presidency for preparing their headline reading of the Paris Agreement which is also important for today's discussion. We have already reflected on the historic achievement of Paris and the...

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In November, President Obama and other world leaders came together in Paris to launch Mission Innovation, a landmark commitment to dramatically accelerate public and private global clean energy innovation. Through the initiative, 20 countries representing at least 80 percent of global clean energy research and development (R&D) budgets committed to double their governments’ R&D investments in this domain over five years. These additional resources will dramatically accelerate the availability of the advanced technologies that will define a future global energy...

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Speech by Ben Broadbent Deputy Governor, Monetary Policy Bank of England at at London School of Economics | March 2, 2016 This morning I’m going to talk about money. This should be a routine topic for a central banker, particularly one whose job title includes the word “monetary”.  It’s nonetheless ground on which one treads with a bit of trepidation.  That’s partly because some of the big questions involved – what money is, why it exists, how and by whom its...

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At the BUSINESSEUROPE Day in Brussels today, Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke about the challenges facing the EU single market. The single market has already brought member states many benefits, but its huge potential is still not being fully exploited. The theme of the day was ‘reform to perform’. Many EU companies are opting to do business with the US or Far East, rather than with the 500 million consumers on their doorstep. EU rules that should be assisting them...

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Excellencies, colleagues and friends It is a real pleasure to be at the Atlantic Council with its strong tradition of bringing together leaders from Europe and the United States. We always have plenty to talk about! I'm particulary pleased to see Jose-Manuel here, who guided us through perhaps the most difficult period in Europe's recent history. I joined the Commission right at the end of his second mandate in the summer of 2014. We had already come a long way since the...

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Today, the European Commission presented an assessment of the implications for the European Union of the new global climate agreement adopted in Paris in December 2015. The assessment looks at the next steps in the process and how the Paris Agreement will be implemented in the EU. The assessment is also accompanied by a proposal for the European Union to sign the Paris Agreement. Vice-President for the Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič said: "The Paris Agreement sends a strong signal that the...

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REITERATES that the Single Market is Europe's main engine for growth and job creation and a key to investment and increasing European competitiveness. EMPHASISES that strengthening and deepening the Single Market requires urgent and ambitious actions, both at Union and national level, to deliver concrete and pragmatic results which directly benefit consumers and businesses, in particular SMEs. UNDERLINES that the Single Market Strategy, together with the Digital Single Market Strategy and the Capital Markets Union, constitute essential drivers for future-proof...

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The European Commission today issued the legal texts that will put in place the EU-U.S. The European Commission today issued the legal texts that will put in place the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and a Communication summarizing the actions taken over the last years to restore trust in transatlantic data flows since the 2013 surveillance revelations. In line with President Juncker's political guidelines, the Commission has (i) finalised the reform of EU Data protection rules, which apply to all companies providing...

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