Brussels, 17/07/2020 | Statement by HR/VP I am deeply concerned at the growing use of sanctions, or the threat of sanctions, by the United States against European companies and interests. We have witnessed this developing trend in the cases of Iran, Cuba, the International Criminal Court and most recently the Nordstream 2 and Turkstream projects. As a matter of principle the European Union opposes the use of sanctions by third countries on European companies carrying out legitimate business. Moreover, it considers...

Secretary-General Angel Gurría briefed the G20 Finance Ministers today on ongoing negotiations to address the tax challenges of digitalisation and on recent international tax developments | Overview Since I last reported to you in February 2020, the world has undergone a cataclysmic change. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has upended daily life as countries attempt to protect the health of their citizens and mitigate the economic fallout from the ongoing crisis. In responding to this crisis, the tax agenda is more relevant...

Together with our members we are creating a Video series of first-hand accounts of the Pandemic’s impact, both personally & professionally. We invite you to join us today for a first-hand look at the impact of the global shutdown following the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak – Today we are featuring Michael Levie, Chief Operations Officer, CitizenM Hotel a Member of the EACCNY. The questions we asked our members for this series are: 1) What are some challenges you, personally and your organization...

At today’s meeting (July 16, 2020) the Governing Council of the ECB took the following monetary policy decisions: The interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.50% respectively. The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels until it has seen the inflation outlook robustly converge to a level sufficiently...

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, has submitted a response to the European Commission’s (EC) consultation on the renewed sustainable finance strategy. The response covers a broad range of topics from strengthening the foundations for sustainable finance, increasing opportunities for citizens, financial institutions and corporates to have a positive impact on sustainability, to managing and reducing risks relating to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. In ESMA’s view, the future strategy on sustainable finance should aim...

The EU is supporting the economic recovery in all Member States by injecting almost €2.2 billion into 140 key transport projects. These projects will help build missing transport links across the continent, support sustainable transport and create jobs. The projects will receive funding through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EU's grant scheme supporting transport infrastructure. With this budget, the EU will deliver on its climate objectives set out in the European Green Deal. A very strong emphasis is on projects reinforcing railways,...