Years after the start of the financial crisis, non-performing loans and private debt remain obstacles to the recovery of bank credit and investment. Eight years after the start of Europe’s financial crisis, the legacy of non-performing loans and excessive private debt remains a key obstacle to the recovery of bank credit and investment. The efforts to reduce and remove NPLs from the balance sheets of creditors must simultaneously remove excess debt from the balance sheets of debtors. This is the only...

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On 25 April 2017 the Council agreed its negotiating position, also referred to as a general approach, on the multi-annual plan for demersal stocks in the North Sea. The plan will be the first comprehensive long-term strategy for the North Sea aimed at managing a variety of species, fishing vessels and interested parties. As soon as the European Parliament votes on its report, negotiations between the institutions can start. "The North Sea plan is key to the implementation of the reformed...

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Global economy The global economic recovery is gaining momentum, commodity prices have firmed up, and deflation risks are receding. While the outlook is improving, growth is still modest and subject to heightened political and policy uncertainties. Crisis legacies, high debt levels, weak productivity growth, and demographic trends remain challenging headwinds in advanced economies; while domestic imbalances, sharper-than-expected financial tightening, and negative spillovers from global uncertainty pose challenges for some emerging market and developing countries. Trade, financial integration, and technological innovation have...

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In 2016, the government deficit and debt of both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28 decreased in relative terms compared with 2015. In the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio fell from 2.1% in 2015 to 1.5% in 2016, and in the EU28 from 2.4% to 1.7%. In the euro area the government debt to GDP ratio declined from 90.3% at the end of 2015 to 89.2% at the end of 2016, and in the EU28 from...

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