ECB: Euro area house prices recovering House prices in the euro area have turned the corner and can be expected to gradually strengthen further, according to the forthcoming Economic Bulletin. The upturn is favourable for the economy as a whole and has posed little risk for financial stability up to now. The European Central Bank published an Economic Bulletin that discusses the current state of the euro area house price cycle and compares it with historical patterns. It finds that the...

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Interview with Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the ECB, conducted by Paul Ingrassia, Balazs Koranyi and John O'Donnell of Thomson Reuters on 14 September Is quantitative easing working? It is working and effective in many ways. The ultimate metric to assess success is the inflation rate normalization around our medium term target. That is achieved through the improvement of financial conditions in general, by the effect of our policies on expectations, the cost of capital, and rebalancing of portfolios. All of...

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Over 15,000 start-ups in Germany will benefit from this €1 billion agreement signed today The European Investment Fund (EIF) and the German promotional bank KfW Bankengruppe have signed a €1 billion agreement for start-ups in Germany under COSME– an EU funding programme for SMEs – with the support of the Investment Plan for Europe. The agreement will allow KfW to support €1 billion of loans to start-ups in Germany over the next two and a half years, benefitting over 15,000 start-ups and young small enterprises under...

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The Council of the European Union prolonged by 6 months the application of EU restrictive measures targeting actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence. The asset freeze and travel bans against 149 persons and 37 entities have been extended until 15 March 2016. The assessment of the situation did not justify a change in the regime of sanctions nor in the list of persons and entities under restrictive measures. One deceased person was removed from the list. The legal acts are available...

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The European Commission has approved its proposal for a new and transparent system for resolving disputes between investors and states – the Investment Court System. The Investment Court System would replace the existing investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism in all ongoing and future EU investment negotiations, including the EU-US talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The proposal for an Investment Court System builds on the substantial input received from the European Parliament, Member States, national parliaments and stakeholders...

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