Over 15,000 start-ups in Germany will benefit from this €1 billion agreement signed today The European Investment Fund (EIF) and the German promotional bank KfW Bankengruppe have signed a €1 billion agreement for start-ups in Germany under COSME– an EU funding programme for SMEs – with the support of the Investment Plan for Europe. The agreement will allow KfW to support €1 billion of loans to start-ups in Germany over the next two and a half years, benefitting over 15,000 start-ups and young small enterprises under...

The Council of the European Union prolonged by 6 months the application of EU restrictive measures targeting actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence. The asset freeze and travel bans against 149 persons and 37 entities have been extended until 15 March 2016. The assessment of the situation did not justify a change in the regime of sanctions nor in the list of persons and entities under restrictive measures. One deceased person was removed from the list. The legal acts are available...

The European Commission has approved its proposal for a new and transparent system for resolving disputes between investors and states – the Investment Court System. The Investment Court System would replace the existing investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism in all ongoing and future EU investment negotiations, including the EU-US talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The proposal for an Investment Court System builds on the substantial input received from the European Parliament, Member States, national parliaments and stakeholders...

The Council prolonged by 6 months the application of EU restrictive measures targeting actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.   The asset freeze and travel bans against 149 persons and 37 entities have been extended until 15 March 2016. The assessment of the situation did not justify a change in the regime of sanctions nor in the list of persons and entities under restrictive measures. One deceased person was removed from the list. The legal acts are available in the EU...

Good afternoon and welcome to this press conference. We briefly discussed the economic situation in the Eurozone, I will let Commissioner Moscovici say more about that. We had a follow-up discussion on the issue of structural reforms, in particular on the tax wedge on labour, which is becoming a test case for us on how we can strengthen our cooperation in the field of structural reforms, how can we push the reform agenda jointly in the Eurozone. Today we discussed...

The Eurogroup welcomes the successful conclusion of the seventh review mission in the context of Cyprus' macroeconomic adjustment programme, which took place in July. The fiscal developments continue to exceed expectations, the financial situation of the banks is showing signs of gradual improvement and some progress has been noted on important growth-enhancing reforms. The Eurogroup is encouraged that the economic recovery in Cyprus is gaining strength, the labour market showing signs of stabilization, although unemployment remains at a high...