It was a presentation by Laura Papi, Deputy Director, European Department, IMF given at the Budapest Economic Forum on October 17th 2023.Good morning to all of you. Thank you for the introduction. It is a pleasure to be here today and for the first time at the Budapest Economic Forum. I am honored to have been invited to speak. Today, I will discuss the outlook for Europe and how we see the risks. Inflation, implications of the geoeconomic fragmentation, and...

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The European Commission analysed over 420 foreign direct investments (FDI) into the EU over the past year, according to the Annual Report on FDI Screening released today. In addition, EU Member States blocked 560 requests for exports of dual use goods over the same period. This level of activity demonstrates a clear commitment by the European Commission and Member States to safeguarding European security and public order in times of increased geopolitical tensions. The number of EU Member States with...

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The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided yesterday to move to the next phase of the digital euro project: the preparation phase. This decision follows the completion of the investigation phase launched by the Eurosystem in October 2021 to explore possible design and distribution models for a digital euro. Based on the findings from this phase, detailed in a report published today, the ECB has designed a digital euro that would be widely accessible to citizens and...

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The European Commission is carrying out unannounced antitrust inspections at the premises of companies active in the construction chemicals sector in several Member States. The Commission has concerns that the inspected companies may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). The construction chemicals concerned by the inspection are chemical additives for cement and chemical admixtures for concrete and mortar. These are ingredients that are...

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