News

“The European Semester remains our primary tool for coordinating the EU's economic, fiscal and employment policies. We have integrated the RRF into the Semester to make the most of the synergies between the two, and also avoiding overlaps. In this cycle, we focus on what is needed for an inclusive recovery and a fair transition towards greener and more digital economies.”

The European Commission launched the 2022 European Semester cycle of economic policy coordination on 24 November.

The euro area annual inflation rate was 4.1% in October 2021, up from 3.4% in September.

The Autumn 2021 Economic Forecast projects that, despite mounting headwinds, the EU economy is projected to keep expanding over the forecast horizon. Most Member States are expected to reach the pre-pandemic volume of output by the end of 2021, while a few others will fully recover in 2022.

The EU economy is rebounding from the pandemic recession faster than expected. As vaccination campaigns progressed and restrictions started to be lifted, growth resumed in spring and continued unabated through summer, underpinned by the re-opening of the economy.

The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, disbursed €90 million in Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) to Albania on 5 November.

At an ECOFIN meeting on 9 November, EU economy and finance ministers exchanged views on the EU economy following the COVID-19 pandemic, and on the implications of recent developments for economic governance.

Meeting on 8 November, the Eurogroup discussed macro-economic developments and policy prospects in the euro area.

This paper presents the theoretical approach to disaster risk financing and provides evidence from the EU and the EU Member States.

EU Survey: Public debate on the review of the EU economic governance

According to data released by Eurostat, the EU statistical office, in the second quarter of 2021, the seasonally adjusted general government deficit to GDP ratio stood at 6.9% in the euro area and 6.3% in the EU.

The euro area annual inflation rate was 3.4% in September 2021, up from 3.0% in August.

On 25 October, the European Commission, on behalf of the EU, disbursed €600 million in macro-financial assistance (MFA) to Ukraine.

At a meeting of the European Council on 22 October, EU leaders reached agreement on several issues.

“After last year's unprecedented shock, Europe's economy is recovering strongly. Now we need to ensure that our future growth is both sustained and sustainable. We are relaunching this review of our economic governance against a backdrop of enormous investment needs, as the climate emergency becomes more acute with every passing year. At the same time, the powerful fiscal support provided during the pandemic has led to higher debt levels. These challenges make it all the more essential to have a transparent and effective fiscal framework. Achieving this is our joint responsibility and is crucial to the future of our Union.”

The European Commission has adopted a Communication that takes stock of the changed circumstances for economic governance in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and relaunches the public debate on the review of the EU's economic governance framework.

An overview of economic developments in candidate and pre-candidate countries.

This paper develops benchmarks to assess relative price developments based on the so-called behavioural equilibrium exchange rate (BEER) empirical models.

This paper acts as a Vade Mecum for the EU’s commonly agreed production function methodology and provides a detailed description of a software tool aimed at simplifying the process of calculating potential output and output gap estimates.

“We are making good progress in comparing China and EU taxonomies at the International Platform on Sustainable Finance. We expect to deliver a common ground taxonomy later this year”.