The European Union (EU) has faced a series of unprecedented and unexpected challenges since the adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in 2020. Barely out of one of the deepest global economic crises in more than a century, Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine had huge humanitarian, economic and budgetary consequences. Migration has picked up after the pandemic, putting strains on Member States' reception and integration capacities. Under the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, the Union and the Member...

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Digitalisation has boosted some European firms’ productivity, but many are still on the digital sidelines. That is a pity as faster digital adoption could make our economies much more productive. This ECB Blog post looks at where and how digitalisation can be a gamechanger. Digitalisation promised to be a productivity gamechanger, yet we are still facing a “productivity paradox” at the aggregate level. For decades, rapid advances in digitalisation have coincided with a protracted slowdown in aggregate productivity growth. But...

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The European Commission and the High Representative today published a Joint Communication on a European Economic Security Strategy. This Joint Communication focuses on minimising risks arising from certain economic flows in the context of increased geopolitical tensions and accelerated technological shifts, while preserving maximum levels of economic openness and dynamism. The proposed strategy sets out a common framework for achieving economic security by promoting the EU's economic base and competitiveness; protecting against risks; and partnering with the broadest possible range...

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Speech by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Euro50 Group conference on “New challenges for the Economic and Monetary Union in the post-crisis environment” | Luxembourg, 19 June 2023 | The ECB has taken forceful action in response to the unprecedented surge in euro area inflation. We have embarked on the fastest tightening cycle in our history, raising our key policy rate – the deposit facility rate – from -0.5% to 3.5%, and started...

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The European Commission has today proposed new rules to make withholding tax procedures in the EU more efficient and secure for investors, financial intermediaries (e.g. banks) and Member State tax administrations. This initiative – a key element of the Communication on Business Taxation for the 21st Century, and the Commission's 2020 Action Plan on the Capital Markets Union – will promote fairer taxation, fight tax fraud, and support cross-border investment throughout the EU. The term “withholding tax” refers, for example, to...

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Some secrets are so secret that no one knows about them. Until recently that described the secrets locked within our DNA. But a key to consumer confidence in the burgeoning genetic testing marketplace is the extent to which people can depend on a company’s promise that “Your secret’s safe with us.” In its first case focused on the privacy and security of genetic information, the FTC alleges that San Francisco-based Vitagene, Inc. – now known as 1Health.io – failed...

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