Speech by Olli Rehn, Vice-President of the European Commission and member of the Commission responsible for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro at Wirtschaftsrat Europe Symposium, Brussels | 3 December, 2013 Ladies and Gentlemen, meine sehr geehrten Damen und Herren, I am honoured to speak to such distinguished guests today and to introduce the symposium on "Europe's role in the global economic order" on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Wirtschaftsrat. Since its foundation, the Wirtschaftsrat has reminded us...

Press point/Brussels | 27 November 2013 Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, On behalf of the Commission and my own behalf, I would like to warmly welcome President Anastasiades here today. The President and I held a productive meeting this morning before we joined the college of commissioners and the Cypriot government for a fruitful plenary debate. The meeting showed the close working relationship we have established with our Cypriot partners and friends, who share our commitment and drive for an ever closer...

Today COSME, the new programme for the competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), was presented by Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission, responsible for industry and entrepreneurship. SMEs are the back-bone of the European economy, being primarily responsible for economic growth and job creation. The new programme will give a fresh impetus to the European economy by easing access to credit for SMEs, improving SMEs access to markets inside and outside Europe and creating a...

The EU economy has started growing again. Following a slow expansion of economic activity during the remainder of 2013, growth is set to become more robust in 2014 and 2015. In recent months, there have been encouraging signs that an economic recovery is underway in Europe. After contracting up to the first quarter of 2013, the European economy started to grow again in the second quarter and real GDP is set to continue growing in the remainder of this year. Growth...

Euro area annual inflation was 0.7% in October 2013, down from 1.1% in September. A year earlier the rate was 2.5%. Monthly inflation was -0.1% in October 2013. European Union annual inflation was 0.9% in October 2013, down from 1.3% in September. A year earlier the rate was 2.6%. Monthly inflation was -0.1% in October 2013. In October 2013, the lowest annual rates were observed in Greece (-1.9%), Bulgaria (-1.1%) and Cyprus (-0.5%), and the highest in Estonia and the...

The European Commission today presented a major package of budgetary surveillance announcements, covering 13 euro area Member States and 3 non-euro Member States, with a special focus also on the euro area as an economic entity in its own right. For the first time, the Commission has issued opinions on euro area Member States’ Draft Budgetary Plans, which from this year must be submitted to the Commission by 15 October, at the same time as draft budgets are sent to...