So the day is finally here. Today, we are signing the Comprehensive Economic and Trade agreement at the summit between the EU and Canada. This agreement is an important achievement, for many reasons. First of all, it clearly demonstrates that when Europe comes together, we can shape globalisation according to our values and our standards. We reached an agreement on the EU side after some tumultuous discussions. Sometimes we need to make things a bit complicated first, in order to...

One of the common values that unite the European Union is that of equal opportunities: all citizens should have the same possibility to improve their lives, participate in the labour market and make progress in their careers – regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. Ensuring equal access to the labour market is an important objective for Europe in order to face the challenges posed by demographic change, achieve inclusive and sustainable growth, and meet EU 2020 targets. Despite...

Today the Paris Agreement on climate change enters into force, 30 days after the EU's ratification took it over the threshold to take effect. The new milestone comes less than a year after the historic agreement was adopted. European Commission Vice-President in charge of the Energy Union, Maroš Šefčovič, said: "Today's entry into force of the Paris Agreement, less than a year after its adoption, shows one thing: that the entire world shares a pressing sense of urgency when it...

A LIFE-line for 144 innovative projects investing for a better environment and climate action. The European Commission has approved an investment package of €222.7 million from the EU budget to support Europe's transition to a more sustainable and low-carbon future. The EU funding will spur additional investments leading to a total of €398.6 million to be invested into 144 new projects in 23 Member States. The support comes from the LIFE programme for the Environment and Climate Action. €323.5 million will...

The European Central Bank (ECB) has today published three new guidelines (Guidelines ECB/2016/31, ECB/2016/32 and ECB/2016/33). These guidelines provide amendments to (i) the General Documentation Guideline on the implementation of the Eurosystem’s monetary policy (ECB/2014/60), (ii) the Guideline on Valuation Haircuts (ECB/2015/35) and (iii) the Guideline on Additional Temporary Measures relating to Eurosystem refinancing operations and eligibility of collateral (ECB/2014/31). The new Guidelines introduce changes to the monetary policy implementation framework, including: First, the Eurosystem is introducing some changes to the...

Solid growth in most of the region, CIS emerging from recession But sustaining current growth requires further structural reforms Better tax administration, public investment can free up 2-4 percent of GDP in extra resources Economic growth remains solid in much of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe (CESEE), while Russia’s outlook is improving, and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are emerging from recession, says the IMF in its latest Regional Economic Issues report on the region. For the region as...