Non-Technical Summary One of the most dramatic trends in financial markets over the last decade has been the rise of sustainable investing. Many prominent institutions, such as the European Central Bank, now publicly support sustainable investing. It is often argued that sustainable investing can incentivize firms to act more sustainably by decreasing the cost of capital firms have to pay for their green investments. Despite the prominence of this idea, it is unclear whether sustainable investing influences firm behavior through...

Read more

The Commission has adopted today the first implementing rules on cybersecurity of critical entities and networks under the Directive on measures for high common level of cybersecurity across the Union (NIS2 Directive). This implementing act details cybersecurity risk management measures as well as the cases in which an incident should be considered significant and companies providing digital infrastructures and services should report it to national authorities. This is another major step in boosting the cyber resilience of Europe's critical...

Read more

More excellent research, impactful innovation and technology scale-ups are needed to make Europe more globally competitive, secure and sustainable. These are among the twelve expert recommendations presented today to the Commission to strengthen Horizon Europe, the EU research and innovation programme, and its successor. The recommendations have been drafted by an independent group of 15 leading experts chaired by Manuel Heitor, former secretary of state for science, technology and higher education of Portugal. Their report, entitled ‘Align, Act, Accelerate: Research,...

Read more

Elevated risks to public debt call for enduring and carefully designed fiscal adjustments Blog post by Era Dabla-Norris, Davide Furceri, Raphael Lam, Jeta Menkulasi | Global public debt is very high. It is expected to exceed $100 trillion, or about 93 percent of global gross domestic product by the end of this year and will approach 100 percent of GDP by 2030. This is 10 percentage points of GDP above 2019, that is, before the pandemic. While the picture is not homogeneous—public debt is...

Read more

The second meeting of the Accession Conference with Albania at ministerial level was held today in Luxembourg. The European Union delegation was led by Mr Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on behalf of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the participation of Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi. The Albanian delegation was led by Mr Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania. The meeting served to open negotiations with Albania on Cluster 1:...

Read more

The implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), at the heart of the EU's recovery instrument NextGenerationEU, is speeding up, fostering continuous reform and investment progress in Member States. As shown in the Commission's third Annual Report on the RRF adopted today, the Commission is supporting Member States in the full and timely delivery of their plans through more streamlined processes, and has further improved both transparency and mechanisms to protect the EU financial interests. The RRF, with €650 billion in grants...

Read more

Today, the Council approved conclusions on climate finance ahead of the United Nations framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024 (COP 29). In its conclusions, the Council underlines that the EU and its member states are committed to the current goal of developed countries to collectively mobilise $100 billion per year in climate finance until 2025. This goal was met for the first time in 2022. The Council also highlights its strong...

Read more

Nine out of ten consumers have been affected by “dark commercial patterns” - manipulative online design tactics such as countdown timers, hidden fees, and subscription traps that influence consumer behaviour and often lead to unintended purchases or privacy compromises. These deceptive practices are widespread on websites and apps, posing significant risks to consumers worldwide. The findings are part of a new OECD survey conducted with over 35 000 respondents across 20 countries. They were presented during the OECD Consumer Policy Ministerial...

Read more

Keynote speech by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Bundesbank Symposium on the Future of Payments   Frankfurt am Main, 7 October 2024 The foundations of the financial system as we know it today can be traced back to 14th-century Italy, when double-entry bookkeeping was introduced, along with nostro and vostro accounts to facilitate the settlement of foreign trades across separate, independent ledgers. Although today’s financial markets are highly complex and sophisticated, the fundamental practice of bookkeeping across ledgers has...

Read more

The global economy is turning the corner as growth remained resilient through the first half of 2024, with declining inflation, though significant risks remain, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Outlook. With robust growth in trade, improvements in real incomes and a more accommodative monetary policy in many economies, the Outlook projects global growth persevering at 3.2% in 2024 and 2025, after 3.1% in 2023. Inflation is projected to be back to central bank targets in most G20 economies by the...

Read more