Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, the EU, EU Member States and European financial institutions, as Team Europe, have disbursed €47.7 billion in support of partner countries in addressing the pandemic and its consequences, delivering on its promises with concrete results. This figure exceeds by far the initial €20 billion Team Europe support […]
Read More
EU ministers agree statement in support of additional €5 billion assistance for Ukraine
EU finance ministers and Central Bank governors met with representatives of the European Commission and the ECB at the informal Ecofin Council meeting in Prague today. The finance ministers discussed the impact of the Russian aggression in Ukraine on the European economies and supported the swift adoption of additional financial assistance to Ukraine amounting to […]
Read More
ECB raises rates by 0.75 basis point
The Governing Council decided on 8 september to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 75 basis points. This major step frontloads the transition from the prevailing highly accommodative level of policy rates towards levels that will ensure the timely return of inflation to the ECB’s 2% medium-term target. Based on its current assessment, […]
Read More
Interview with Luis de Guindos, Vice-President of the ECB
Last Thursday 28th July, the Governing Council of the ECB decided to increase the key interest rates by 0.5 percent, which differed from the initial plan to increase rates by 0.25 percent. But has it not come too late? Other major central banks reacted to inflation much earlier. We started the normalisation of our monetary […]
Read More
Commission makes second 12 billion payment to Spain under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism
On Friday 29 July, the Commission has paid Spain the second instalment of €12 billion of non-refundable financial assistance (excluding pre-financing) under the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism (RRM). The payments made by the Commission under the RRM are performance-based and depend on Spain’s implementation of the investments and reforms outlined in Spain‘s recovery and resilience […]
Read More
ECB raises interest rates for first time in eleven years
The ECB Governing Council has raised interest rates for the first time in eleven years, and is likely to raise them again in the coming months. Why have interest rates increased? The ECB is the central bank of the euro and has a mandate to keep prices stable. When prices in our economy are rising […]
Read More
Ukraine: EU grants access to funding under the EU4Health
As part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to provide support in the area of health, Commissioner Kyriakides visited Ukraine to meet Minister of Health Viktor Liashko and pay a visit to a medical centre for children as well as a patient rehabilitation centre. At this occasion, the Commission and the Ukrainian Government have signed an agreement […]
Read More
New EU industrial strategy: the challenges to tackle
MEPs want the EU’s updated industrial strategy to enable European companies to be competitive, clean and resilient, and to also help the shift to a more digital and environmental economy. European enterprises have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, as many have had to shut or reduce their workforce while finding new ways to work […]
Read More
Summer 2022 Economic Forecast: Russia’s war worsens the outlook
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues to negatively affect the EU economy, setting it on a path of lower growth and higher inflation compared to the Spring Forecast. The Summer 2022 (interim) Economic Forecast projects that the EU economy will grow by 2.7% in 2022 and 1.5% in 2023. Growth in the euro area is expected […]
Read More