At today’s meeting, which was held in Malta, the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.05%, 0.30% and -0.20% respectively. Comment on the considerations underlying these decisions by Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, Vítor Constâncio, Vice-President of the ECB, Malta, 22 October 2015 Ladies and gentlemen, the Vice-President and I are very pleased to...

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission visited Bucharest October 13-21 to discuss recent economic developments and the 2016 budget plans. At the end of the visit, mission chief Andrea Schaechter issued the following statement: “Romania improved considerably its macroeconomic fundamentals in recent years, supported by three successive IMF, European Union and World Bank arrangements. It is critical now to safeguard these achievements as downside risks in the global economy, particularly for emerging economies, have heightened again. Key policy priorities include preserving...

To help citizens and businesses benefit fully from the internal market, the European Commission continuously engages with and, if necessary, initiates infringement procedures against Member States who do not respect European law. This month, as part of its monthly package of infringement decisions, the Commission took a number of decisions: 30 letters of formal notice, 21 reasoned opinions, 11 referrals to the Court of Justice of the EU, and 53 closures. Amongst others, the Commission decided to refer six...

On 21 October 2015, the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) approved a compromise package agreed with the European Parliament on a regulation which will facilitate the free movement of citizens by simplifying the requirements for presenting certain public documents in the EU.  The regulation aims at simplifying the procedures for the cross-border presentation of public documents related to civil status matters, such as births, deaths, marriages and registered partnerships, and public documents certifying the absence of a criminal record. The regulation...

The board of the European Investment Bank today approved nearly EUR 7 billion of new loans expected to support investment in strategic energy, key roads, broadband, flood protection, university expansion and reforestation, as well as initiatives to enhance access to finance by small businesses across Europe and around the world. Meeting at the EIB’s headquarters in Luxembourg, representatives of the EIB’s shareholders, the 28 EU member states and the European Commission, also discussed the EIB’s emergency response to the refugee...

In 2014, the government deficit of both the euro area (EA19) and the EU28 decreased in absolute terms compared with 2013, while the government debt rose in both zones. In the euro area the government deficit to GDP ratio decreased from 3.0% in 2013 to 2.6% in 2014, and in the EU28 from 3.3% to 3.0%. In the euro area the government debt to GDP ratio increased from 91.1% at the end of 2013 to 92.1% at the end...

The EU’s new trade and investment strategy, launched October 14, is designed to be more effective, transparent, and reflective of EU values, including sustainable development, human rights, fair and ethical trade, and the fight against corruption. It is intended to benefit as many people as possible—including workers, consumers, small and medium-sized businesses, and  trading partners in developing countries. As the world’s largest exporter and importer of total goods and services, the largest foreign direct investor, and premier destination for foreign direct...

Europe's Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is in much better shape today than it was before the financial crisis. However, despite progress, particularly as regards reinforcement of the economic governance and the launch of the Banking Union, the EMU remains incomplete. Divergence in economic performance across the euro area is significant. With close to 18 million unemployed and many within our societies exposed to risks of social exclusion, more needs to be done to turn the euro area into a...