Governments can strengthen public trust by ensuring meaningful public engagement in decision-making, using tools such as spending reviews and digital technologies to increase efficiency and enhancing access to justice and public services, according to a new OECD report. Government at a Glance 2025 highlights the mounting fiscal pressures across OECD countries, with public debt reaching 112% of GDP in 2024 – up from 73% in 2007. The report shows how these fiscal pressures come as action is needed to respond to demographic,...

Member states’ representatives agreed today the Council’s negotiating mandate on simplifying sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements to boost EU competitiveness. This proposal aims at simplifying the directives on corporate sustainability reporting (CSRD) and due diligence (CS3D) by reducing the reporting burden and limiting the trickle-down effect of obligations on smaller companies. "Today we delivered on our promise to simplify EU laws. We are taking a decisive step towards our common goal to create a more favorable business environment to help our companies...

Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the Hearing of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament Brussels, 23 June 2025 It is a pleasure to be with you again for our regular exchange. This year has been one of profound global economic and geopolitical uncertainty. As we navigate a world increasingly marked by fragmentation, uncertainty and conflict, Europe must reaffirm its role as a pillar of economic and political stability. And with the foundations of global...

The Council presidency and European Parliament’s negotiators reached a provisional agreement today on one of the proposals of the so-called ‘Omnibus I’ legislative package: a regulation, which simplifies and strengthens the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). The proposal seeks to provide simplification and cost-efficient compliance improvements to the CBAM regulation, without compromising its climate goals, as about 99% of embedded emissions in the imported CBAM goods would remain covered. The overall aim is to reduce the regulatory and administrative burden, as well as compliance...

Keynote speech by Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECB, at the SRB Legal Conference 2025 Thank you for your kind invitation. It is a pleasure to join you this morning to discuss the key obstacles to completing the single European market from the ECB’s perspective. 40 years ago Jacques Delors presented a now-famous "White Paper", outlining a bold and comprehensive vision for completing the single European market. This historic...

Today, the European Commission proposes measures to speed up defence investments and production to make the EU more responsive to today's security challenges, as outlined in the Commission's White Paper for European Defence-Readiness 2030. The measures, laid down in a Defence Readiness Omnibus, aim to help Member States and industry scale up defence capabilities and infrastructure to reach the levels of readiness required to prepare for and thereby deter a high intensity conflict. The measures reduce red tape, facilitate investments in defence...

High Trade and Investment Barriers Pose Threat to Mobilizing Financing for Development WASHINGTON, June 16, 2025—Flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing economies—a key propellant of economic growth and higher living standards—have dwindled to the lowest level since 2005 amid rising trade and investment barriers, new research from the World Bank shows. These barriers pose a significant threat to global efforts to mobilize financing for development. In 2023, the latest year for which data are available, developing economies received just...

By Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank For the euro to reach its full potential, Europe must strengthen three foundational pillars: geopolitical credibility, economic resilience and legal and institutional integrity. We are witnessing a profound shift in the global order: Open markets and multilateral rules are fracturing, and even the dominant role of the US dollar, the cornerstone of the system, is no longer certain. Protectionism, zero-sum thinking and bilateral power plays are taking their place. Uncertainty is harming...