The European Commission has adopted a new Action Plan to improve the protection of nature and biodiversity in the EU, for the benefit of its citizens and the economy. The Plan consists of 15 actions to be carried out by 2019 to rapidly improve the implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives, which are the EU's flagship nature policies. These Directives establish the largest coordinated network of biodiversity-rich protected areas in the world (Natura 2000 network), covering more 18% of land...

Years after the start of the financial crisis, non-performing loans and private debt remain obstacles to the recovery of bank credit and investment. Eight years after the start of Europe’s financial crisis, the legacy of non-performing loans and excessive private debt remains a key obstacle to the recovery of bank credit and investment. The efforts to reduce and remove NPLs from the balance sheets of creditors must simultaneously remove excess debt from the balance sheets of debtors. This is the only...

On 25 April 2017 the Council agreed its negotiating position, also referred to as a general approach, on the multi-annual plan for demersal stocks in the North Sea. The plan will be the first comprehensive long-term strategy for the North Sea aimed at managing a variety of species, fishing vessels and interested parties. As soon as the European Parliament votes on its report, negotiations between the institutions can start. "The North Sea plan is key to the implementation of the reformed...

Global economy The global economic recovery is gaining momentum, commodity prices have firmed up, and deflation risks are receding. While the outlook is improving, growth is still modest and subject to heightened political and policy uncertainties. Crisis legacies, high debt levels, weak productivity growth, and demographic trends remain challenging headwinds in advanced economies; while domestic imbalances, sharper-than-expected financial tightening, and negative spillovers from global uncertainty pose challenges for some emerging market and developing countries. Trade, financial integration, and technological innovation have...

In 2016, the government deficit and debt of both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28 decreased in relative terms compared with 2015. In the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio fell from 2.1% in 2015 to 1.5% in 2016, and in the EU28 from 2.4% to 1.7%. In the euro area the government debt to GDP ratio declined from 90.3% at the end of 2015 to 89.2% at the end of 2016, and in the EU28 from...

Less favourable non-price terms for secured funding and for non-cleared OTC derivatives Worsened market liquidity for underlying collateral Less favourable credit terms than one year ago for most counterparty types Survey respondents reported that credit terms offered to counterparties, both in the provision of finance collateralised by euro-denominated securities and in OTC derivatives markets, tightened for all counterparty types when comparing the three-month reference period from December 2016 to February 2017 with the previous three months. By and large,...