The €315-billion “Juncker” investment plan, announced by the European Commission last November to encourage the financing of viable investments in Europe, was backed by the European Parliament in a vote on Wednesday. Parliament modified its financing structure, won a say in selecting its leadership and ensured more democratic oversight in negotiations with the Council. Parliament approved the fund’s rules by 464 votes to 131 with 19 abstentions. The vote marks the end of a rapid legislative process, demonstrating Parliament's...

Mr President, Honourable Members, Let me first express my gratitude to this House, the European Parliament, and especially to Presidents Gualtieri and Arthuis, and of course the two co-rapporteurs Mr Bullman and Mr Fernandes, for your excellent support, for your excellent work on this very specific and important file. I also want to thank the other Rapporteurs who were working on this issue. Mr President, I have to say that these people were very tough negotiators, but also very result-oriented negotiators....

ECB: Roadmap for the future of the Economic and Monetary Union Presidents of five EU institutions publish report on strengthening EMU Report to be presented to European Council on Thursday ECB President Mario Draghi calls for a quantum leap in integration The presidents of five European institutions today publish a report entitled “Completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union,” commissioned by leaders at the Euro Summit last October. The report, written by the presidents of the European Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament,...

I called this summit to put an end to the dangerous uncertainty and to avoid the worst case scenario which means chaotic and uncontrollable Graccident. To do that, I wanted to achieve two things. First, I wanted to inject new dynamism into the negotiations that have been stalled for too long. With the Greek proposal today, I believe that we have taken that step. Second, to make sure that all leaders are on the same political page, that all...

Brussels, 22 June 2015 --  Today, the five Presidents – European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, together with the President of the Euro Summit, Donald Tusk, the President of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, and the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz – have revealed ambitious plans on how to deepen the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) as of 1 July 2015 and how to complete it by latest 2025. To turn...

Banking structural reform The Council agreed its negotiating stance on structural measures to improve the resilience of EU credit institutions The proposal is aimed at strengthening financial stability by protecting the deposit-taking business of the largest and most complex EU banks from potentially risky trading activities. It applies to banks that are either deemed of global systemic importance or exceed certain thresholds in terms of trading activity or absolute size. Despite recent regulatory reforms in the banking sector, these credit institutions and...

In light of the outcome of the Eurogroup meeting today, I have decided to convene a Euro Summit on Monday 22 June at 19h00. It is time to urgently discuss the situation of Greece at the highest political level.   OTHER: Eurogroup statement on Cyprus, 18 June 2015 The Eurogroup welcomes the institutions' conclusion following the sixth review mission that Cyprus' adjustment programme has been brought back on track. The fiscal performance continues to be solid, the debt outlook has improved, and structural...

Brussels, 18 June 2015 -- The European Commission has initiated infringement proceedings against five Member States today requesting them to terminate intra-EU bilateral investment treaties between them ("intra-EU BITs"). BITs are agreements establishing the terms and conditions for private investment by nationals and companies of one state in another one. Intra-EU BITs are agreements that exist between EU Member States. Many of these intra-EU BITs were agreed in the 1990s, before the EU enlargements of 2004, 2007 and 2013. They...