The Council today adopted new rules to improve the way crowdfunding platforms operate across the EU. The new framework is part of the capital markets union's project which aims at providing an easier access to new financing sources. It will remove barriers for crowdfunding platforms to provide their services cross-border by harmonising the minimum requirements when operating in their home market and other EU countries. It will also increase legal certainty through common investor protection rules. The new rules will cover...

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Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, First of all, I would like to thank the President of the European Council – Charles Michel – for his enormous efforts and perseverance. This European Council's success is also his success. And I would like to thank Angela Merkel for her exceptional guidance. We negotiated for four long days and nights – more than 90 hours – but it was worth it. This agreement is a signal that Europe is capable of taking action. A...

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Faced with an unprecedented shock of collapsing global demand and commodity prices, capital outflows, major supply chain disruptions and a generalized drop in global trade, many emerging markets and developing economies’ (EMDEs) currencies have weakened sharply. Will these currency movements support the recovery of these economies? Building on a new dataset, research laid out in a new IMF Staff Discussion Note indicates that the short-term gains from weaker currencies may be limited. This is especially true for EMDEs where firms price their international sales...

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Brussels, 17/07/2020 | Statement by HR/VP I am deeply concerned at the growing use of sanctions, or the threat of sanctions, by the United States against European companies and interests. We have witnessed this developing trend in the cases of Iran, Cuba, the International Criminal Court and most recently the Nordstream 2 and Turkstream projects. As a matter of principle the European Union opposes the use of sanctions by third countries on European companies carrying out legitimate business. Moreover, it considers...

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Secretary-General Angel Gurría briefed the G20 Finance Ministers today on ongoing negotiations to address the tax challenges of digitalisation and on recent international tax developments | Overview Since I last reported to you in February 2020, the world has undergone a cataclysmic change. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has upended daily life as countries attempt to protect the health of their citizens and mitigate the economic fallout from the ongoing crisis. In responding to this crisis, the tax agenda is more relevant...

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