The Council and the European Parliament negotiators reached a provisional agreement on measures to incentivise defence-related investments in the current EU budget to implement the so-called ReArm Europe plan, an EU initiative to increase defence spending and strengthen the EU’s military capabilities. The agreement includes a landmark decision to associate Ukraine to the European Defence Fund, underscoring the EU’s enduring commitment to Ukraine’s security, resilience, and gradual integration into the European defence industrial base. “The agreement reached today on incentivising defence-related investments in...

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By Anamaria Piloiu, Oleg Reichmann and Florian Resch Climate risks affect credit ratings. And these, in turn, influence how banks can use securities as collateral to borrow money. This post takes a closer look at how the Eurosystem integrates climate change risks into its own collateral framework, through the credit risk channel. Central banks must prepare for the financial risks that come with rising temperatures and fast-evolving green policies. In the Eurosystem, we are actively working to ensure that the euro...

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Today, the Commission has published the State of the Energy Union Report 2025 and the accompanying Climate Action Progress Report 2025. They show the significant strides the EU has made in transitioning to a robust and integrated Energy Union by progressing on the clean energy transition with more renewables, addressing high and volatile energy prices and affordability, and further reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is increasing competitiveness, decarbonisation and strengthen energy security and independence reducing EU's reliance on imported fossil fuels. The reports confirm once again that the EU...

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Abstract: Motivated by current events, this paper assesses the impact of tariff increases on bilateral greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) over the period 2016-2023. Leveraging a comprehensive dataset of announced greenfield investment projects, official FDI statistics, and bilateral product-level tariff data, we estimate a series of gravity equations to uncover key relationships. Our results show that, at an aggregate level, tariff increases are associated with a rise in greenfield FDI, consistent with the tariff-jumping hypothesis. However, this positive effect reverses...

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The European Commission today adopted a comprehensive transport package. It will accelerate the roll-out of Europe's high-speed rail network and to boost investment in renewable and low-carbon fuels for the aviation and waterborne sectors. Competitiveness and sustainability are the guiding principles of this package, which aims to make the EU transport system more efficient, interconnected, accessible, clean and resilient. The measures presented today cover two key areas – rail, where Europe already leads on sustainability, and fuels, where Europe must...

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Today, the Council has reached an agreement on amending the European climate law (ECL), introducing a binding intermediate climate target for 2040 of a 90% reduction in net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, compared to 1990 levels. This new target is a crucial step towards the EU’s long-term goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The amendment also sets out some areas of flexibility and key elements for the 2040 target and for the post-2030 climate framework. These will steer the Commission’s future legislative proposals to...

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Speech by Alfred Kammer, Director, IMF European Department, at the House of the Euro, Brussels Thank you, , for the kind welcome and the ECB for hosting us again here in Brussels at the House of the Euro. The year 2025 marked a period of profound transformation in the global economy, driven by a reconfiguration of trade policies. For Europe, these developments follow a series of crises—from the pandemic, to Russia’s invasions of Ukraine—that have tested the region’s resilience. Timely policy action has helped avoid the worst, and...

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By Ferdinand Dreher and Nils Hernborg, ECB Many Bulgarians are still hesitant about giving up the Lev on 1 January. Mixed feelings are not uncommon in countries adopting the euro. However, survey data show that support significantly increases once people start using the euro in their daily lives. When countries prepare to adopt the euro, public sentiment is often hesitant or split. People tend to worry about prices going up, as well as a loss of their country’s sovereignty or sense...

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Today, the European Commission adopted its annual Enlargement Package, presenting a comprehensive assessment of the progress made by the enlargement partners over the past twelve months. This year's package reaffirms that the momentum for enlargement stands high on the priority agenda of the EU. It also confirms that the accession of new Member States is increasingly within reach. Staying consistent and following a merit-based approach is key to successful EU accession. Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia, North Macedonia,...

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Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the high-level conference on “Bulgaria on the Doorstep of the Eurozone”, jointly organised by the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance and Българска народна банка (Bulgarian National Bank) On 1 January 2026 Bulgaria will adopt the euro as its currency. The change will happen in a single night, but it is the outcome of a much longer journey. Bulgaria has long been part of Europe’s monetary story. From the lev’s peg to the...

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