EU solidarity should not replace decisions that must be taken in countries suffering economic difficulties, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble told Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs in Tuesday’s special debate on the review of the economic governance framework. His Italian colleague Pier Carlo Paduan, vehemently rejected criticism of measures to bring down Italy’s deficit and stressed the need to better coordinate reform policies. Asked for his opinion on greater flexibility or risk sharing within the EU Stability and Growth...

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1/26/2015 Thank you to Vice President Dombrovskis for hosting today. We have had a very constructive meeting, and agree on the importance of the United States and our European partners continuing to build a stronger global economy. In the United States, our economic recovery continues to strengthen. Over the past 5 years, our private sector has created more than 11 million jobs, the longest streak of private-sector job growth in our nation’s history.  Our growth been supported by increases in household wealth,...

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"21st  century businesses, including small businesses, need to sell more American products overseas.  Today, our businesses export more than ever, and exporters tend to pay their workers higher wages. But as we speak, China wants to write the rules for the world's fastest-growing region. That would put our workers and businesses at a disadvantage. Why would we let that happen? We should write those rules. We should level the playing field. That's why I'm asking both parties to give...

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PRESS RELEASE | 22 January 2015  ECB expands purchases to include bonds issued by euro area central governments, agencies and European institutions Combined monthly asset purchases to amount to €60 billion Purchases intended to be carried out until at least September 2016 Programme designed to fulfil price stability mandate The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) today announced an expanded asset purchase programme. Aimed at fulfilling the ECB’s price stability mandate, this programme will see the ECB add the purchase of sovereign...

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January 21 marks the start of the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos (21-24 January), under the motto “the new global context”. More than 2.500 world leaders, politicians, top business and opinion leaders and media representatives participate in this key event to exchange ideas and discuss global issues in more than 280 official sessions. The European Commission will be represented by First Vice-President Timmermans, High Representative/Vice-President Mogherini, Vice-Presidents Šefčovič, Dombrovskis and Katainen, and Commissioners Oettinger, Malmström, Moscovici and...

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The data-driven economy, and more generally the digital economy, is an area of strategic economic importance for the EU Member States. Making innovative use of this data is the main source of increased productivity for the EU economy. At the Commission's request, the EESC has drawn up an opinion "Towards a thriving data-driven economy", which was adopted by 213 votes to 1, with 11 abstentions at the EESC's plenary session on 21 January. In recent years, data has become extremely...

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16 January 2015 Lithuania's changeover from the litas to the euro has been smooth and successful. As of today, it is no longer possible to make payments in Lithuanian litas, the 15 days dual circulation period having ended on 15 January. No major problems were encountered and banks, post offices and retailers coped well with the extra workload caused by the changeover process and the parallel handling of two currencies. According to a Commission survey, on Wednesday 14 January 2015, nearly...

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Brussels, 15 January 2015 Countries providing high quality jobs and effective social protection as well as investment in human capital have proved to be more resilient to the economic crisis. This is one of the main findings of the 2014 Employment and Social Developments in Europe Review, which has looked back to the consequences of the recession. It also stresses the need to invest in the formation and maintenance of the right skills of the workforce to support productivity, as...

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