Today's proposal by the European Commission sets the 2026 EU budget at €193.26 billion, complemented by an estimated €105.32 billion in disbursements under NextGenerationEU. Building on the mid-term revision of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), next year's draft budget is designed to support strategic objectives, including support for Ukraine, competitiveness, migration management, security and defence, and strategic investments, while maintaining momentum on green and digital priorities. This budget proposal comes after a series of unpredicted developments over the 2021-2027...

Global economic prospects are weakening, with substantial barriers to trade, tighter financial conditions, diminishing confidence and heightened policy uncertainty projected to have adverse impacts on growth, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Outlook. The Outlook projects global growth slowing from 3.3% in 2024 to 2.9% in both 2025 and 2026. The slowdown is expected to be most concentrated in the United States, Canada, Mexico and China, with smaller downward adjustments in other economies. GDP growth in the United States is projected to...

The European Union must unite to shape today’s global economy, rather than be shaped by it By Gita Bhatt, Head of Policy Communications, IMF Not many places match the European Union for quality of life. Its workers enjoy more time off than in many other regions, yet their living standards are among the highest. Its core values of solidarity are exemplified in social contracts that ensure the state will care for those who need it. Yet lately the EU has lost confidence in...

Recent disruptions, transport network bottlenecks and rising concerns about economic security all point to the need to strengthen and diversify supply chains. However, simply re-localising all production within national borders would harm growth and undermine, rather than strengthen, supply chain resilience, according to a new OECD report. The OECD Supply Chain Resilience Review emphasises the importance of agile and effective risk management and offers evidence-based insights to strengthen supply chain resilience in the face of multiple complex global challenges, to help firms...

By Pedro Baptista, Maarten Dossche, Andrew Hannon, Dorian Henricot, Omiros Kouvavas, Davide Malacrino and Larissa Zimmermann Despite recent ECB rate cuts, the average interest rate on mortgages is expected to increase further. This is because of lagged effects from the latest hiking cycle. The ECB blog shows that the resulting drag on consumption could last at least until 2030. Mortgage contracts often have interest rates fixed for long periods, or even for the entire duration of the contract. This implies that...

Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at an event on Europe’s role in a fragmented world organised by Jacques Delors Centre at Hertie School in Berlin, Germany Over the past 80 years, the global economy thrived on a foundation of openness and multilateralism – underpinned by US leadership. By championing a rules-based international system and anchoring the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, the United States set the stage for trade to flourish and finance to expand. This global...

Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva Ladies and Gentlemen, Today, the College has taken an important step to make Europe the best place for innovation. The best place to start, to scale, to stay. President von der Leyen made it clear when she presented the new College: Startups and scaleups are a top priority of this Commission. We are delivering on that promise. Our innovators don't just build companies. They create jobs. They turn ideas into solutions that improve and save lives. The good news is that we are not starting...