Five international organisations today released a landmark report that outlines pathways for co-ordinated approaches on climate action, carbon pricing, and the cross-border effects of climate change mitigation policies with a view to achieving global climate goals. The report was presented on 23 October by the Joint Task Force on Climate Action, Carbon Pricing, and Policy Spillovers, convened by the World Trade Organization and joined by the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations Trade and...

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Program will drive U.S. leadership in semiconductors as well as provide the critical technology and skilled workforce needed for U.S. semiconductor packaging Today, the Biden-Harris Administration issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) funded by the CHIPS and Science Act to enable the United States semiconductor industry to adopt innovative new advanced packaging flows for semiconductor technologies. This investment comes as part of the President’s overarching Investing in America agenda, which is increasing American competitiveness and boosting manufacturing in industries of...

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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...

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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...

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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,...

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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...

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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:...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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