On October 1, Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, was awarded the Atlantic Council’s 2015 Global Citizen Award. IMF head Christine Lagarde presented the award to Draghi at a ceremony in New York, and said he had “moved Europe in the direction of stability”. Draghi was one of four prominent individuals recognized as having made exceptional and distinctive contributions to strengthening the transatlantic relationship. In his speech, President Draghi spoke about the importance of the European Union to the global economy and...

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Speaking points of First Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Jourová First Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Jourová 's press conference on Safe Harbour following the Court ruling in case C-362/14 (Schrems) First Vice-President Frans Timmermans : Today's judgment by the Court is an important step towards upholding Europeans' fundamental rights to data protection. The Court confirms the need of having robust data protection safeguards in place before transferring citizens' data. I see this as a confirmation of the European Commission's approach for the renegotiation of...

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Good evening and welcome to this press conference. We had a Regular Eurogroup, and a agenda which goes through issues of growth and competitiveness as always. First let me fill you in on Greece. We took stock of the latest developments. Of course we welcomed the swift formation of the new government. And welcomed the strong commitment of the Greek authorities to implement the programme. A lot of work remains to be done in the coming months. So it is very...

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Pierre Moscovici, Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, has welcomed the final package of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) measures that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) adopted today. The BEPS package sets out a new international approach to corporate tax reform, aimed at preventing corporate tax avoidance and re-aligning taxation to the place of real economic activity. "The OECD has done impressive work to help countries around the world find common solutions to common...

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Policy makers will need to strengthen policies to address current challenges and help lead the world economy to recovery, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a speech at the Council of the Americas. “I am calling on policymakers to make a policy upgrade to address the current challenges,” Lagarde said. Lagarde, speaking ahead of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings that take place October 9-11 in Lima, Peru, stated that the world is at a “difficult and complex juncture.” The prospect of...

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What does the Capital Markets Union have to do with infrastructure in Europe? One of the goals of the Capital Markets Union is to help mobilise capital in Europe and channel it to the infrastructure and long term sustainable projects that Europe needs to create jobs. By amending the rules on how much capital insurance companies need to hold, the Commission is giving them incentives to invest for the long-term in infrastructure. These changes will free up millions of euros...

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The European Commission is launching the Capital Markets Union Action Plan today to help build a true single market for capital across the 28 EU Member States. As part of the Juncker Commission priority to boost jobs, growth and investment across the EU, the Capital Markets Union (CMU), a key pillar of the Investment Plan, aims to tackle investment shortages head-on by increasing and diversifying the funding sources for Europe’s businesses and long-term projects. Also published today are the first...

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Overall money market turnover in the second quarter of 2015 fell to the level of the same quarter of 2012, with a year-on-year decline of 12% to €69 trillion (compared with a revised 7% year-on-year rise in the 2nd quarter of 2014) Decline especially noticeable in the largest market segment, the secured market, and in the unsecured market The switching of funds into longer maturities on account of value or regulatory considerations contributed to the decline in turnover Perceived deterioration in liquidity...

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The European Union as a whole is confronted with an ageing population. In 2014, the proportion of persons aged 65 or over reached 18.5% in the EU and it is projected to further increase in the future to almost 30% by 2080. In particular, the proportion of persons aged 80 or over among the total population is expected to more than double, from just over 5% in 2014 to more than 12% by 2080. This demographic trend confronts the EU...

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