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EU legislators conclude negotiations, European Fund for Strategic Investments to be operational by autumn
The European Parliament (EP) and the Council as EU co-legislators have successfully concluded negotiations on the Regulation for a European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the core of the EUR 315 billion Investment Plan for Europe. As a result of the agreement reached on 28 May, the Fund should become operational by autumn. The European Commission, represented by Vice-Presidents Georgieva and Katainen, acted as an honest broker and facilitator throughout the negotiations with the EP and the Council. The co-legislators' agreement on the final outstanding issues, including the budgetary allocations to the EFSI, keeps the EFSI on track for the ambitious timetable EU leaders set out last December. EU Finance Ministers are expected to approve the Regulation at the ECOFIN Council on 19 June, and the EP plenary vote on the Regulation is expected to take place on 24 June. The backbone of the EFSI will consist of EUR 16 billion in guarantees from the EU budget and EUR 5 billion from the European Investment Bank. It will be complemented by the newly created "European Investment Advisory Hub", a one-stop-shop for technical assistance, and the "European Investment Project Portal", both initiatives implementing the second pillar of the Investment Plan. So far, national contributions to EFSI-supported projects have been announced by Italy, France, Germany, Poland (each EUR 8bn), Spain (EUR 1.5bn) and Luxemburg (EUR 80 million).
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We are counting on Parliament and Council to give the final approval in June so we can have EFSI up and running in autumn. And what's most important is to start boosting investment, jobs and growth in Europe.
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Jyrki Katainen, Vice-President responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness
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Greek design wins 2-euro coin competition, celebrating 30 years of the EU flag
The 2-euro commemorative coin design by Georgios Stamatopoulos from the Bank of Greece has won the euro coin competition. The winning design garnered 30% of the online vote. A professional jury originally selected five coin designs from among the 62 designs submitted by euro area mints. Subsequently more than 100 000 euro area citizens and residents took part in an online vote to select the winning design at www.coin-competition.eu. The 19 euro area countries will jointly issue the commemorative 2-euro coin to celebrate 30 years of the European flag as the EU emblem. Issuance of the coin is planned for the second half of 2015, with each euro area country deciding their exact date of issuance. The estimated volume of issuance will be around 77 million coins. Normally the national side of the coin is reserved for a motif specific to the individual country, but in this case it will bear the same design – a symbol of European unity - in all 19 euro area countries. This is the fourth time the euro area countries collectively issue a commemorative coin. Previous occasions were in 2007 for the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, 2009 for 10 years of Economic and Monetary Union, and 2012 for 10 years of euro banknotes and coins.
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G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors discuss global economy in Dresden
Commissioner Pierre Moscovici attended the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Dresden on 27-29 May 2015 which was combined with a high-level symposium with a number of prominent economists on how to improve the global recovery. Ministers and Governors discussed the global economy, international tax transparency, financial market regulation, and other issues. In their discussions on the global economy, participants focused on boosting investment and promoting structural reform to make the recovery more sustainable. Ministers and Governors took stock of progress made on the international taxation and financial regulation agendas, agreeing that the implementation of the various agreements was key, while further steps were also needed.
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Investment Plan for Europe: Vice-President Katainen takes road show to Belgium, Latvia and Estonia
European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, visited Belgium on 26 May as part of his road show to promote the Investment Plan for Europe. Vice-President Katainen was accompanied by Commissioner Marianne Thyssen, responsible for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility. The two met with Prime Minister Charles Michel, representatives of the Belgian authorities, national promotional banks and the financial sector, as well as social partners and innovative start-ups. They also hosted a Citizens’ Dialogue on the Future of Europe. Katainen continued the road show with visits to Latvia on 1 June and Estonia on 2 June. Vice-President Katainen is meeting Heads and Members of Government, business leaders, SMEs, investors and students as part of the 28-country road show to promote and explain the EUR 315 billion Investment plan. The road show can be followed in detail on Twitter.
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May 2015: Economic sentiment stable in both the euro area and the EU
In May, the Economic Sentiment indicator (ESI) remained unchanged in both the euro area (at 103.8) and the EU (at 106.4). The stabilisation of euro-area sentiment resulted from increasing confidence in the services, retail trade and construction sectors being offset by consumer confidence decreasing for a second month in a row. Confidence in industry edged up only marginally compared to the previous month. Amongst the largest euro-area economies, the Netherlands (+0.9), France (+0.7) and Germany (+0.5) saw economic sentiment improving, whereas sentiment declined slightly in Italy (-0.4) and remained unchanged in Spain. In line with euro-area developments, the headline indicator for the EU remained unchanged. Concerning the two largest economies outside the euro area, sentiment worsened in Poland (-1.5) while remaining broadly stable in the UK (+0.1).
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Fighting tax evasion: EU and Switzerland sign historic tax transparency agreement
The EU and Switzerland signed a historic new tax transparency agreement, which will significantly improve the fight against tax evasion. Under the agreement signed on 27 May, both sides will automatically exchange information on the financial accounts of each other’s residents from 2018. This spells an end to Swiss bank secrecy for EU residents and will prevent tax evaders from hiding undeclared income in Swiss accounts. The agreement was signed by Commissioner Pierre Moscovici and by Janis Reirs, Latvian Minister of Finance, on behalf of the Latvian Presidency of the Council for the EU, and by the Swiss State Secretary for International Financial Matters, Jacques de Watteville. It forms part of the EU's measures to increase tax transparency and fight tax avoidance in line with the strengthened transparency requirements EU Member States agreed to in 2014. The Commission is expected to conclude similar agreements with Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino before the end of the year.
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May flash estimate: Euro area annual inflation up to 0.3%
Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 0.3% in May 2015, up from 0.0% in April, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, services (1.3%, compared with 1.0% in April) is expected to have the highest annual rate in May, followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (1.2%, compared with 1.0% in April), non-energy industrial goods (0.3%, compared with 0.1% in April) and energy (-5.0%, compared with -5.8% in April).
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Ageing report – Effects of ageing on Member States public finances by 2060
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The EU population is projected to increase in size slightly by 2060, but with a much older age profile than today. This will have an effect on public policies and public spending in areas such as pensions, healthcare or long-term care. Age-related public expenditure is expected to increase by 1.4 % of GDP in the EU as a whole.
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Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs
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