The European Commission's international cooperation and development policy will continue to play a leading role in ensuring women's access to health and family planning services. Gender equality is a global priority. The European Commission supports this actively, in particular through the Gender Action Plan and EU external action. World-wide, around 225 million women are in need of modern contraception. More than 300,000 women die each year from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes, 99% of them in developing countries. Ensuring women's access to...

European Commission plans for changes to the Financial Regulation, which governs the operation of the EU Budget, should be simplified further, according to a new opinion published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA). The Commission is proposing what it calls an “ambitious revision” of the Regulation as part of its Mid-term Financial Review. In general, the auditors welcome the Commission’s intention to simplify the Regulation. They also note moves towards rewarding performance, a point which they have raised several...

Growth prospects and macroeconomic imbalances  The Council discussed growth prospects and macroeconomic imbalances under the 'European Semester', the EU's annual policy monitoring process.  It adopted conclusions and approved a draft recommendation on the economic policies of the euro area.  "We are calling on member states to redouble their efforts to create a virtuous triangle of boosting investment, pursuing structural reforms and ensuring responsible fiscal policies", said Edward Scicluna, Maltese minister for finance and president of the Council. "These are our policy priorities...

"Tomorrow, 28 January marks European Data Protection Day. Personal data protection is a fundamental right in the European Union; it is part of the European DNA and deserves the highest protection standards. 2016 was a historical year for data protection in the EU. We agreed on a data protection reform that will help stimulate the Digital Single Market in the EU by fostering consumer trust in online services and by providing legal certainty for businesses based on clear and uniform...

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström at the Bruegel Lunch Talk Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for inviting me here today. In 2016, we saw many trying to reverse the trend of increasing globalisation, and increasing openness. Their reflex was to say "close a border! Build a wall!" - as though that were the solution to all our problems. It isn’t. The fact is that the nations of the world, and especially the nations of Europe, need each other, are dependent on each...

One year after adopting its Circular Economy Package, the Commission today reports on the delivery and progress of key initiatives of its 2015 Action Plan. Together with the report, the Commission also: took further measures today by establishing a Circular Economy Finance Support Platform with the European Investment Bank (EIB) bringing together investors and innovators issued guidance to Member States on converting waste to energy proposed a targeted improvement of legislation on certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. First...

During the last four years, as president of the Eurogroup, I have spent many debates, interviews and Q&A sessions explaining what's actually going on in the Eurozone and what we are doing to fix it. During this time, I have seen the economic facts, figures and results improve. But much less so, the sentiment. A lack of trust perseveres.  The topics changed over the course of time. Cyprus stepped into the spotlight in 2013 and has since recovered, leaving its...

EIB Group signed operations worth 83.8 billion euros supporting total investments in the order of 280 billion euros in 2016. Record financing for SMEs of more than EUR 33bn. EIB Group well on track under Investment Plan for Europe. President Hoyer: No more business as usual, political and regulatory reform vital in 2017 EU Bank President Werner Hoyer has laid out the EIB Group’s contribution to creating jobs and growth in Europe by supporting projects and investment in SMEs, key infrastructure, innovation and...