Interview with Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Ingūna Ukenābele on 22 February 2021 | How would you describe the current economic situation in the euro area? In the course of the pandemic, we have experienced the deepest economic downturn since World War II. After the strong decline in economic activity following the first wave of infections in the spring of 2020, we saw a strong rebound, supported by the decisive fiscal and monetary policy...

Countries should increase efforts to better deter, detect and disrupt the activities of professionals who enable tax evasion and other financial crimes, according to a new OECD report. Ending the Shell Game: Cracking down on the Professionals who enable Tax and White Collar Crimes explores the different strategies and actions that countries can take against those professional service providers who play a crucial part in the planning and pursuit of criminal activity, referred to in the report as “professional enablers.”...

As G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meet virtually this week, the world continues to climb back from the worst recession in peacetime since the Great Depression. The IMF recently projected global GDP growth at 5.5 per cent this year and 4.2 per cent in 2022. But it is going to be a long and uncertain ascent. Most of the world is facing a slow rollout of vaccines even as new virus mutations are spreading—and the prospects for recovery...

The Commission proposed today to set up 10 new European Partnerships between the European Union, Member States and/or the industry. The goal is to speed up the transition towards a green, climate neutral and digital Europe, and to make European industry more resilient and competitive. The EU will provide nearly €10 billion of funding that the partners will match with at least an equivalent amount of investment. This combined contribution is expected to mobilise additional investments in support of the transitions, and...

Keynote Speech by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at the EU Parliamentary Conference *As prepared for delivery* Thank you for the opportunity to address you today.  As EU Commissioner I benefitted from interactions with this Conference and am honored to join you again at this critical time. Jean Monnet once said: “People only act in a state of necessity and usually only recognize necessity in a situation of crisis.” We are in a crisis and it is time for action.  In 2020, 90 percent...

Today, the Commission presents an Action Plan on Synergies between civil, defence and space industries to further enhance Europe's technological edge and support its industrial base. The Action Plan is devised against the background that, for the first time, EU funding presents opportunities to reinforce European innovation by exploring and exploiting the disruptive potential of technologies at the interface between defence, space and civil uses, such as cloud, processors, cyber, quantum and artificial intelligence. Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for ‘a Europe fit for...