The Winter 2022 Economic Forecast projects that, following a notable expansion by 5.3% in 2021, the EU economy will grow by 4.0% in 2022 and 2.8% in 2023. Growth in the euro area is also expected at 4.0% in 2022, moderating to 2.7% in 2023. The EU as a whole reached its pre-pandemic level of GDP in the third quarter of 2021 and all Member States are projected to have passed this milestone by the end of 2022. Economic growth...

Why a European Chips Act? Semiconductor chips are the essential building blocks of digital and digitised products. From smartphones and cars, through critical applications and infrastructures for healthcare, energy, communications and industrial automation, chips are central to the modern digital economy. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a weakness in the eco-system within both Europe and other regions in the world experiencing significant shortages of chips. EU industries manufacture many types of high-tech products, of which chips are essential parts. Europe must...

Today, the Commission proposes a comprehensive set of measures to ensure the EU's security of supply, resilience and technological leadership in semiconductor technologies and applications. The European Chips Act will bolster Europe's competitiveness, resilience and help achieve both the digital and green transition. Recent global semiconductors shortages forced factory closures in a wide range of sectors from cars to healthcare devices. In the car sector, for example, production in some Member States decreased by one third in 2021. This made...

Introductory statement by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the Hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament (by videoconference) | Frankfurt am Main, 7 February 2022 | On this day in 1992, the leaders of twelve European countries decided to transform the European Community into the European Union by signing the Maastricht Treaty. Thirty years on, Europe continues to benefit from many of the accomplishments of that Treaty. The Treaty established European citizenship, including...

High Representative/Vice President Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, will travel to Washington, D.C., on 7-8 February. Both will co-chair the EU-U.S. Energy Council on the EU side and Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, on the U.S. side on 7 February. The meeting will take forward EU-US cooperation on energy security and on the joint commitment to accelerate a just and clean energy transition to climate neutrality for citizens of the EU,...

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, on 1 January 2022 took on its new mandate as direct supervisor of the largest EU Data Reporting Service Providers (DRSPs). Its new role gives ESMA direct authorisation and supervisory powers over DRSPs, except for those entities that, due to more limited market impact, will continue to be supervised by their Member State authority. ESMA, in exercising its new responsibilities, will build on its long-standing experience in supervising...

The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA) published today a joint report in response to the European Commission’s February 2021 Call for Advice on Digital Finance. The proposals put forward aim at maintaining a high level of consumer protection and addressing risks arising from the transformation of value chains, platformisation and the emergence of new ‘mixed-activity groups’ i.e. groups combining financial and non-financial activities. The ESAs note that the use of innovative technologies in the EU financial sector...

The Financial Sector Assessment Program is a key pillar of IMF surveillance. FSAPs can help make financial systems more resilient. In doing so, they consider country-specific features and tailor their analysis. The IMF assesses advanced economies itself and evaluates others jointly with the World Bank. Many countries entered the pandemic with strong bank capital and supervisory frameworks. Nonetheless, as economies recover from the pandemic, uncertainties remain regarding the underlying state of banks and other intermediaries. This year’s assessments address seven economies with...