After Latvia adopted the euro at midnight December 31st– on the 15th anniversary of the launch of the euro in 1999 – 18 Member States and 333 million Europeans will share the same currency. This is a major achievement for Latvia and for the euro area as a whole. On January 1st, Latvians will start withdrawing euro cash and paying for their purchases in euro. This has been made possible thanks to thorough preparations ahead of the introduction of the...

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SPIEGEL: Mr Draghi, do you know Andrea Nahles? Draghi: I have heard the name before but I don’t know her personally. SPIEGEL: Ms Nahles is the new German Labour minister and boss of Jörg Asmussen, your former colleague in the Executive Board of the ECB. That he gives up this prestigious job has caused great surprise in Germany. Did you chase him out?Draghi: Jörg and I had an excellent personal and professional relationship. I consider it as a great loss for...

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Last December 12, 2013 the Italian Communication Authority (AGCOM) approved a new regulation on online copyright enforcement that will enter into force on March 31, 2014. The new regulatory framework is a first-of-its-kind for Italy or the EU. Such new rules may potentially affecting all companies with a digital presence: not only ISPs and social media, but also companies hosting forums, newsgroups or any kind of user-generated content. According to such rules, AGCOM may order access or hosting providers to remove “digital...

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The German insurance company Allianz positively rated Austria’s economic competitiveness in a current study on the eurozone economies. The study evaluated overall balance, taking account of the labor market, public finances, debt, wealth and competitiveness. Austria was ranked third among 17 eurozone countries, outperformed only by Germany and Estonia. Austria was one of the few core countries in the eurozone which managed to improve its overall standing since 2012. Austrian Government program strengthens business location The agenda of the new Austrian...

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Op-ed  by EU Ambassador Vale de Almeida - Published EU Delegation Website and Huffington Post Negotiators from the European Union and United States are taking a well-deserved break after wrapping up the latest round of our Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks in Washington today. We have been engaging our American counterparts on everything from tariffs on chocolate to car safety standards in talks this week. And we have been hard at work ever since President Barack Obama announced the...

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The European Council today set out its position on the establishment of a single resolution board and a single fund for the resolution of banks. It called on the presidency to start negotiations with the European Parliament with the aim of agreeing the regulation on the single resolution mechanism (SRM) at first reading before the end of the Parliament's current legislature (May 2014). The compromise reached within the Council consists of a draft regulation on the single resolution mechanism, and a...

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December 19, 2013 -- Today, at the mid-point of the third round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, US and EU negotiators took time to share information with and hear viewpoints from more than 350 stakeholders from environmental, consumer, and other non-governmental organizations, labour unions, business, and academia. US Chief Negotiator Dan Mullaney and EU Chief Negotiator Ignacio Garcia-Bercero and their teams participated in a three-hour session. This included more than 50 policy presentations on issues including consumer...

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"I welcome the appointment by the Member States of Danièle Nouy as first Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) (IP/12/953). Her nomination was approved by the European Parliament last week." "As Chair of the Supervisory Board of the SSM, Danièle Nouy will play a central role in the banking union. She is an excellent choice for the tough job ahead. Building a brand new structure to supervise banks in Europe is a major challenge and...

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Writing in today's edition of The Hill, European Union Ambassador to the United States João Vale de Almeida welcomes the WTO agreement reached in Bali last week as it sets up a promising 2014 for global trade. This is particularly encouraging as the EU and the U.S. are moving ahead at full speed with the third round of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which takes place in Washington, DC next week. "Both the U.S. and EU need open economies...

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