The sixth ministerial meeting of the Trade and Technology Council (“TTC”) took place in Leuven, Belgium, on 4 and 5 April 2024. It was co-chaired by European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, joined by European Commissioner Thierry Breton, and hosted by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European...

Read more

The United States has been ranked as the top destination for foreign direct investment for the 12th consecutive year according to Kearney’s Global Business Policy Council’s 2024 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index.  The annual survey of global senior executives and investors found that the United States maintains its lead ranking for over a decade due to the growing strength of the U.S. economy and rebounding consumer sentiment. Foreign investors were encouraged by higher-than-anticipated GDP growth in 2023, which was attributed...

Read more

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Assistant Secretary Alan Davidson gave remarks at a roundtable with leading AI developers, civil society organizations, and academics on the benefits, risks, and policy options regarding open AI models, in relation to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Request for Comment on the topic. Secretary Raimondo moderated the discussion, which addressed the marginal benefits and risks of open AI models, systems of accountability and risk mitigation, the national security and societal impacts...

Read more

​IMO has agreed on an illustration of a possible draft outline of an “IMO net-zero framework” for cutting greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from international shipping. This marks a step forward in the legal process towards adopting global regulations, referred to as “mid-term GHG reduction measures”, that will help achieve the targets contained in the 2023 IMO Strategy on the Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships. At the conclusion of the eighty-first session of the Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 81), held...

Read more

Blog post by Federico Maria Ferrara, Tom Hudepohl, Pamina Karl, Tobias Linzert, Benoit Nguyen, Lia Vaz Cruz |  The Eurosystem is shrinking its balance sheet, which makes more government bonds available for purchase. The ECB Blog looks at how markets are adjusting to this new situation with regard to bond price volatility, liquidity and the impact on repo markets. Since mid-2022 the Eurosystem’s balance sheet declined by around €2,000 billion, or more than 22 per cent. The largest part of...

Read more

On March 25th the Commission published a Flash Eurobarometer conducted at the regional level, showing that EU citizens look positively at the economic situation and the quality of life in their region. Over eight out of ten Europeans (82%) say that the quality of life in their region is good. At the same time, 65% of Europeans say that the current situation of the economy of their region is good. Europeans tend to think that the most important issues facing their region at the moment are the cost of...

Read more

Speech by Alfred Kammer, Director - European Department, IMF  |  Thank you, Dean Muštra, for your opening remarks and Governor Vujčić for the invitation to attend this year’s Regional Governors’ Meeting in Split. Today’s gathering comes two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a subsequent energy-price roller coaster, and the advent of a more fragmented global economy. Against this backdrop Europe has done well, because governments acted fast and decisively. Unemployment rates have remained low, inflation has declined sharply, and the EU announced a new...

Read more

Blog post by Tobias Adrian and Marc Dobler |  Almost a year ago, Credit Suisse, a globally systemic bank with $540 billion in assets and the second-largest Swiss lender, founded in 1856, failed and was sold to UBS. In the United States, Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank failed at around the same time amid Federal Reserve interest rate hikes to contain inflation. With a combined $440 billion of assets, these were the second, third, and fourth biggest bank resolutions since the...

Read more

Trainees all over the EU will benefit from better quality traineeships thanks to new Commission proposals. They will improve and enforce working conditions for trainees, and ensure everyone can do a traineeship regardless of their socio-economic background or disability, by: improving learning content ensuring fair pay helping trainees claim their labour rights recommending access to adequate social protection combatting regular jobs disguised as traineeships creating channels to report malpractice and poor working conditions promoting equal access to traineeship opportunities allowing...

Read more

Members of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS (Inclusive Framework) continue to make steady progress in the implementation of the BEPS package to tackle international tax avoidance, as the OECD releases the latest peer review report assessing jurisdictions' efforts to prevent tax treaty shopping and other forms of treaty abuse under Action 6 of the OECD/G20 BEPS Project. A revised peer review document forming the basis of the assessment of the BEPS Action 6 minimum standard was also released today. The sixth peer review report on...

Read more