The EU and Ukraine signed a landmark Association Agreement (AA) on June 27, 2014 that includes the establishment of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). General provisions and parts of the political and cooperation chapters of the AA have applied provisionally since November 2014, with the trade related aspects entering into force on 1st January 2016. The trade provisions of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement constitute a milestone in the partners’ bilateral relationship and offer new economic benefits to...

Data breaches can cause substantial damage to consumers, businesses and even governments, as the cyber attacks against Sony in 2014 and against Estonia in 2007 showed. To boost defences against such attacks against its essential services, such as electricity supply and air traffic control, the EU has agreed on a common set of basic cyber security rules. We talked to Andreas Schwab, a German member of the EPP group, who is responsible for steering them through Parliament. Why do we...

2016 should be the year of corporate tax reform and fiscal transparency, tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told MEPs from the Special Committee on Tax Rulings and the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee at a hearing on Monday evening. “We have a serious problem with tax avoidance and lack of transparency. Too many people have looked the other way”, Mr Moscovici said. MEPs from most political groups encouraged the Commissioner to show ambition and go beyond the recent agreements in the...

By Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund Farewell Symposium for Christian Noyer, Banque de France, Paris, January 12, 2016 | As prepared for delivery Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, Christian, mon cher ami! I am honored to pay tribute to someone who is greatly admired in all the different roles played in a very public life. As head of the Paris Club, Directeur du Trésor, Vice President of the ECB, Governor of the Banque de France, and Chairman of the...

Interview with Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the ECB, conducted by Mark Schrörs and published on 31 December 2015 Mr Constâncio, when you became Vice-President of the European Central Bank (ECB) in 2010, could you have imagined that one day the ECB would be using all available means to drive up the rate of inflation instead of trying to curb rising prices? That would never really have occurred to me at that time. It was completely unexpected for everyone. However, it is...

This interview was conducted by Ewald Pironet of Knack.be and published on 6 January. For over a year now, the European Central Bank (ECB) has been printing heaps of money, pumping it into the economy and pushing interest rates down to almost 0%. When may this policy be deemed a success? You may label that ECB policy a success if inflation, the rise in the cost of living, stays below, but close to, 2% over the medium term. That is our...

The Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) will become fully operational on 1 January 2016. The SRM implements the EU-wide Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) in the euro area. The full resolution powers of the Single Resolution Board (SRB) will also apply as of 1 January 2016 (IP/14/2784). A milestone on building the Banking Union for the Euro area is about to be reached: on 1 January 2016, the Single Resolution Mechanism will become fully operational. The SRM will bolster the...