The second meeting of the Accession Conference with Albania at ministerial level was held today in Luxembourg. The European Union delegation was led by Mr Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on behalf of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the participation of Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi. The Albanian delegation was led by Mr Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania. The meeting served to open negotiations with Albania on Cluster 1:...

The implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), at the heart of the EU's recovery instrument NextGenerationEU, is speeding up, fostering continuous reform and investment progress in Member States. As shown in the Commission's third Annual Report on the RRF adopted today, the Commission is supporting Member States in the full and timely delivery of their plans through more streamlined processes, and has further improved both transparency and mechanisms to protect the EU financial interests. The RRF, with €650 billion in grants...

Today, the Council approved conclusions on climate finance ahead of the United Nations framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024 (COP 29). In its conclusions, the Council underlines that the EU and its member states are committed to the current goal of developed countries to collectively mobilise $100 billion per year in climate finance until 2025. This goal was met for the first time in 2022. The Council also highlights its strong...

Nine out of ten consumers have been affected by “dark commercial patterns” - manipulative online design tactics such as countdown timers, hidden fees, and subscription traps that influence consumer behaviour and often lead to unintended purchases or privacy compromises. These deceptive practices are widespread on websites and apps, posing significant risks to consumers worldwide. The findings are part of a new OECD survey conducted with over 35 000 respondents across 20 countries. They were presented during the OECD Consumer Policy Ministerial...

Keynote speech by Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Bundesbank Symposium on the Future of Payments   Frankfurt am Main, 7 October 2024 The foundations of the financial system as we know it today can be traced back to 14th-century Italy, when double-entry bookkeeping was introduced, along with nostro and vostro accounts to facilitate the settlement of foreign trades across separate, independent ledgers. Although today’s financial markets are highly complex and sophisticated, the fundamental practice of bookkeeping across ledgers has...

The global economy is turning the corner as growth remained resilient through the first half of 2024, with declining inflation, though significant risks remain, according to the OECD’s latest Interim Economic Outlook. With robust growth in trade, improvements in real incomes and a more accommodative monetary policy in many economies, the Outlook projects global growth persevering at 3.2% in 2024 and 2025, after 3.1% in 2023. Inflation is projected to be back to central bank targets in most G20 economies by the...

The adoption of artificial intelligence in the financial sector presents significant opportunities for efficiency and value creation, but it also introduces potential risks that must be addressed. On 22 May 2024, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) held a roundtable with experts from the public and private sectors and with academics to analyse trends and use cases of artificial intelligence (AI) in finance. Roundtable participants discussed opportunities and risks and shared emerging...

Easing the burden on lower-income households is not only socially fair, but also economically efficient Poor households in Germany and France pay up to $2 more per ton of emitted carbon dioxide than their higher-income compatriots. That is because products and services that wealthier people are likelier to consume—such as imported goods and travel outside the European Union—are exempt from carbon pricing. In other words, carbon pricing is regressive, meaning the poor pay proportionally more than the rich, as a...