Athens, 18 April 2016 Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you very much for participating at this event. I am also very glad to see the deputy Prime Minister here, especially Members of the European Parliament and especially Greek entrepreneurs and representatives of the private sector. I was told that you have already been briefed by our colleagues from the EIB how EFSI functions at the moment. So, I will not repeat what has already been said but I have...

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The inaugural Global Infrastructure Forum 2016 convening here today brings together for the first time the leaders of the multilateral development banks (MDBs) - African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank Group, Islamic Development Bank, New Development Bank, and the World Bank Group – as well as development partners and representatives of the G20, G24, and G77, to enhance multilateral collaborative mechanisms to improve infrastructure...

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Less favourable credit terms for counterparties across the entire spectrum of securities financing and OTC derivatives transaction types. Less favourable non-price credit terms being offered in securities financing transactions but at the same time more favourable financing rates for many types of collateral. Overall credit terms offered to counterparties across the entire spectrum of securities financing and OTC derivatives transaction types became less favourable during the three-month reference period ending in February 2016. The tightening of credit terms was most pronounced...

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Remarks by Vice-President Dombrovskis at the Atlantic Council Ladies and gentlemen,The Belgian Nobel Prize-winning physical chemist Ilya Prigogine has described how systems can adapt and find a new equilibrium. How they create 'order out of chaos'. And how their fundamental openness is the characteristic that allows them to change. As he summed it up: 'we grow in direct proportion to the amount of chaos we can withstand and dissipate...' Don't worry, I am not here to talk thermodynamics with you. But...

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Participants at the Press Conference: Vitor Gaspar, Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department; Abdelhak Senhadji, Deputy Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department; Benedict Clements, Chief of the Fiscal Policy and Surveillance Division, Fiscal Affairs Department; Wiktor Krzyzanowski, Senior Communications Officer, Communications Department Mr. Krzyzanowski: Good morning, everybody. Thank you very much for joining us today for the presentation of the Fiscal Monitor. My name is Wiktor Krzyzanowski; I am with the Communications Department of the Fund. Let me present to...

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New EU data protection rules which aim to give citizens back control of their personal data and create a high, uniform level of data protection across the EU fit for the digital era was given their final approval by MEPs on Thursday. The reform also sets minimum standards on use of data for policing and judicial purposes. Parliament’s vote ends more than four years of work on a complete overhaul of EU data protection rules. The reform will replace the...

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On 12 and 13 April Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, delivered two speeches before the European Parliament, the first relating to the attacks in Brussels and the second on the conclusions of the March European Council. In his speech at the European Parliament’s plenary session Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, insisted that we are stronger when we work together. ‘The time for action has come. In the area of security, as in many other areas...

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New EU rules to help firms win legal redress against theft or misuse of their trade secrets were voted by Parliament on Thursday. MEPs ensured that freedom of expression and information will be protected and that the rules will not restrict the work of journalists. “With one company out of every five a victim of theft of trade secrets every year, harmonisation should allow the creation of a safe and trustworthy environment for European companies, which will see their intangible...

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The European Parliament is set to finalise more than four years of negotiations this week in Strasbourg when MEPs pass the legislation in the Civil Liberties Committee on Tuesday 12 April, followed by a vote by the full house on Thursday 14 April. The overhaul concerns two pieces of legislation: a general regulation on personal data processing in the EU and a directive on data processed by the police and judicial authorities. Together, these make up the data protection package. The...

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