Today the Commission is taking further steps to drive forward the Capital Markets Union (CMU), a pivotal project of the Juncker Commission to boost jobs and growth in Europe. After almost two years since the launch of the CMU Action Plan, the Commission is presenting today a number of important new initiatives to ensure that this reform programme remains fit for purpose. The CMU is a key pillar of the Commission's Investment Plan for Europe, the so-called Juncker Plan. Through a...

The European Investment Bank (EIB), alongside the European Investment Fund (EIF) have agreed to provide BBVA with a EUR 143 million mezzanine guarantee facility to support investment projects for Spanish SMEs. This operation will allow BBVA to provide SMEs with finance of up to EUR 1 billion in SME funding. The agreement benefits from the support of the Investment Plan for Europe and was signed today by the EIB Vice President, Román Escolano and the BBVA Chief Executive Officer,...

The European Union and its Member States signed today a strategic blueprint, outlining the future of European development policy. This "New European Consensus on Development" represents a new collective vision and plan of action to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. The jointly developed strategy, in the form of a Joint Statement, was signed today during the annual two-day European Development Days by the President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani, the Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat, on behalf...

Ladies and gentlemen, It is a pleasure to be here in Brussels and to speak in front of such a distinguished audience. For my generation of modest European architects – I was in Maastricht 25 years ago – Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa is one of those great – almost mythical – Italian figures who engaged in this “Kantian quest for European unity”. So I am honoured to give a lecture named after him. He would certainly have been very pleased that the...

The 11th edition of European Development Days opens tomorrow, 7 June, with a specific focus on investing in development. Europe's leading forum on international cooperation and development promises to be the biggest ever with some 7,000 participants expected. The event's debates, panels, and special events will provide insights into the most pressing development challenges facing the world, and various approaches to dealing with these challenges. On this occasion, President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker stressed: "Europe is the smallest continent,...

EU-China Summit: A number of important developments to the bilateral relationship and fresh impetus to a partnership that has a global impact The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, along with President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, represented the European Union at the 19th bilateral Summit between the European Union and China which took place today in Brussels. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission, Federica Mogherini, Trade Commissioner, Cecilia...

Following the Commission's White Paper on the Future of Europe presented on 1 March, the Commission now sets out possible ways forward for deepening Europe's Economic and Monetary Union. Today's reflection paper builds on the Five Presidents' Report of June 2015 and is intended both to stimulate the debate on the Economic and Monetary Union and to help reach a shared vision of its future design. Paying due attention to the debates in Member States and to the views of...