Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you for inviting me here today and for giving me the opportunity to be part of such a distinguished panel. The subject matter of our panel is a demanding one. Nine years after the beginning of the crisis, advanced economies are apparently settled in a regime of low growth and low inflation with no end in sight. In many places, a weary complacency seems to be reconciled with the “new normal long-term economic equilibrium”. However, in our...

Commission welcomes landmark international agreement to curb aviation emissions The European Commission welcomes the landmark agreement reached yesterday by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), with the adoption of a Global Market-Based Measure (GMBM) to reduce international aviation emissions. The European Union and its Member States played an instrumental role in brokering this deal, which constitutes the first-ever agreement to reduce CO2 emissions in a global sector. Days after the ratification of the Paris Agreement by the EU, this new multilateral deal...

"Ten months ago, in Paris, I said before the world that we needed a strong global agreement to reduce carbon pollution and to set the world on a low-carbon course. The result was the Paris Agreement. Last month, the United States and China -- the world’s two largest economies and largest emitters -- formally joined that agreement together. And today, the world has officially crossed the threshold for the Paris Agreement to take effect. "Today, the world meets the moment....

Following Brexit, it is even more important that the European Union focus on further integration. It can do this by completing the Digital Single Market and the Capital Markets Union, concluding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), pursuing a larger European budget, and introducing Eurobonds. Although it is highly uncertain which direction a European Union without the United Kingdom will take, we will lay out two possible scenarios. The first scenario will leverage European citizens’ fears that free movement...

Action to stop massacres in Syria, implement migration policies and border controls, and ensure a balanced approach to trade deals while defending EU industry are the key challenges that EU heads of state or government should tackle at their 20-21 October meeting in Brussels, said Parliament’s political group leaders in a debate with the Slovak Council Presidency and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday. Click on the speakers’ names to view their statements Ivan Korčok, Slovak Secretary of State, outlined...

During the global financial crisis and subsequent euro-debt crisis, the fiscal resources of some countries appeared to be insufficient to support their banking systems. These countries needed outside support to stabilise their banking systems and thereby their wider economies. This Policy Contribution assesses the potential fiscal costs of recapitalising large banks. Based on past financial crises, we estimate that the cost to recapitalise an individual bank amounts to 4.5 percent of its total assets. During a severe crisis, a country...

The European Parliament will vote on Tuesday to give its consent to the ratification of the Paris climate agreement by the European Union, after Council gave its green light on Friday. For Environment Committee chair Giovanni La Via (EPP, IT) the decision allows the EU to remain a leader in climate action ahead of the next round of talks to take place in Marrakech in November. “I welcome the decision by environment ministers to allow for a timely EU ratification....

EU ministers today approved the ratification of the Paris Agreement by the European Union bringing it very close to entering into force. EU ministers today approved the ratification of the Paris Agreement by the European Union at an extraordinary meeting of the Environment Council in Brussels. President Jean-Claude Juncker said: " (…) I am happy to see that today the Member States decided to make history together and bring closer the entry into force of the first ever universally binding climate...