Today, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission celebrate the launch of an annual ‘EU organic day'. The three institutions signed a joint declaration establishing from now on each 23 September as EU organic day. This follows up on the Action Plan for the development of organic production, adopted by the Commission on 25 March 2021, which announced the creation of such a day to raise awareness of organic production. At the signing and launch ceremony, Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said: “Today we celebrate organic...

The European American Chamber of Commerce (EACC) conducted a survey between September 13 and 17, 2021 to better understand how the EU/US travel ban in place since Spring 2020 has impacted companies engaged in transatlantic business. The survey was conducted by EACC’s local chapters on both sides of the Atlantic. 132 responses were received with 38.6 % characterized as professional services firms, 21.2% as manufacturers, 9.1 % as financial services and the rest as Transportation/Logistics, Education, Travel/Hospitality and Other. Nearly 90% of respondents...

Four economy-wide factors—governance, education, infrastructure, and trade policy—relate closely to more varied and complex exports across countries As the world’s biggest copper producer, Chile’s shipments of the metal meet around one-third of global demand and represent about half its goods exports. But beyond mining’s dominance, Chile’s trade flows are more varied and complex than they may appear, with significant exports of vehicles, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications equipment. And according to a recent IMF staff paper, the Andean economy is among those that shine...

The EU Commission has published its second report on the impact of SURE, the €100 billion instrument designed to protect jobs and incomes affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report finds that SURE has been successful in cushioning the severe socio-economic impact resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. National labour market measures supported by SURE are estimated to have reduced unemployment by almost 1.5 million people in 2020. SURE has helped to effectively contain the increase in unemployment in the beneficiary...

Speech | 22 September 2021 | Brussels | "Check against delivery" Ladies and gentlemen, For fifty years, the EU has supported vulnerable developing countries by giving them preferential access to the EU market. This has been a shining example of how trade policy can stimulate growth, create jobs and help to eradicate poverty. By removing import duties, we have helped these countries to diversify their economies, develop sustainably and play a fuller part in the global economy. And this without harming EU industry. So,...

Speech | 22 September 2021 | Brussels | "Check against delivery" Good afternoon, thank you Valdis for that introduction. When we look back over 5 years when Solvency II came into being, back then it was really a major change in the European rulebook for insurers, aligning prudential rules with state-of-the-art risk management practices. And Solvency II is a global leader, so we can be proud of our achievements in that regard. Because Solvency II has provided a solid base for the single...

The European Union and the United States announced today the Global Methane Pledge, an initiative to reduce global methane emissions to be launched at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in November in Glasgow. President Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged countries at the US-led Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) to join the Pledge and welcomed those that have already signaled their support. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and, according to the latest...

1 Introduction Targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs) play a key role in preserving favourable bank financing conditions for households and firms, thereby contributing to inflation reaching the ECB’s target of 2% in the medium term. The operations are part of a broad set of complementary policy instruments, which include asset purchases, negative interest rates and forward guidance. Since their inception in 2014, TLTROs have supported the transmission of monetary policy by incentivising lending through their targeting feature and by providing a reduction...