Cybersecurity - the best defense in one of the newest theaters of war—must respond to constantly transforming targets in order to eliminate or minimize unimaginable damage to a society’s security and infrastructure. What today is mostly the stuff of science fiction could tomorrow become reality without constant cyber vigilance. The European Union aims to keep pace with cyber vulnerabilities, and on December 7, 2015, adopted EU-wide rules affecting network and information security. The new legislation will: improve cybersecurity capabilities in...

Read more

From 30 November to 12 December, Paris hosted the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 11). On 12 December, the parties reached a new global agreement on climate change. The agreement presents a balanced outcome with an action plan to limit global warming 'well below' 2°C. Carole Dieschbourg, Environment Minister for...

Read more

Today, the Commission adopted a Communication on the contribution of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds) to the EU's growth strategy, the Investment Plan and the Commission's priorities over the next decade. Today, the Commission adopted a Communication on the contribution of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds) to the EU's growth strategy, the Investment Plan and the Commission's priorities over the next decade. The report also includes the outcomes of the negotiations with all the...

Read more

European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and US Trade Representative Michael Froman released the following joint statement after the conclusion of their meeting on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in Brussels. “The European Union and the United States have made considerable progress towards a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in the past year, notably since the G7 Elmau summit in June, when we agreed to accelerate work on all elements of the agreement. We are fully committed...

Read more

Outlook and Risks 1. The UK’s recent economic performance has been strong, and considerable progress has been achieved in addressing underlying vulnerabilities. Growth has exceeded that of the other major advanced economies, the unemployment rate has fallen substantially, employment has reached an historic high, the fiscal deficit has been reduced, and financial sector resilience has increased. 2. Steady growth looks likely to continue over the next few years, and inflation should gradually return to target. After a period of robust private domestic demand-driven growth, matched...

Read more

Worth €99.6 billion for 2014-2020, all 118 EU Rural Development Programmes for 2014-2020 are now ready to roll. Today's adoption of Greece's Rural Development Programme (RDP) marks the end of the adoption process for all 118 programmes for the 2014-2020 period. With €99.6 billion from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and another €60.6 billion of co-funding from national and regional public funds or private investment, the RDPs will help European rural areas and communities face the current...

Read more

1. What are retail financial services? Retail or consumer financial services are financial services offered to ordinary consumers, meaning they are sold to and used by citizens at retail level. This covers a wide array of products: retail banking and current accounts, payment services, credit cards, mortgages and other credit and different kinds of insurance (e.g. life, travel, motor, health or home insurance). 2. Why is this consultation needed? Retail financial services markets are not yet as integrated as they could be in...

Read more

Today, I want to talk about financial services not from the institutional point of view, from the point of view of the consumer; about how the Single Market can bring real benefits to make people's daily lives easier and better. Today, we don't have a real single market for financial services.Only three per cent of consumers have used bank services in another EU Member State. Only one per cent of loans in the euro area are made across borders. Credit...

Read more

The abbreviation ANFA stands for Agreement on Net Financial Assets. It is an agreement between the 19 national central banks (NCBs) of the euro area and the ECB, which together form the Eurosystem. The agreement sets rules and a limit for holdings which are related to national tasks of the NCBs. Non-monetary policy assets of national central banks can be related, for example, to the NCB’s employee pension funds, NCB foreign reserves, the counterpart to their capital and accounting...

Read more