Euro & Finance Archives

The war in Ukraine will weigh heavily upon economic growth in the eurozone, the IMF said Tuesday (19 April), as the conflict wreaks havoc on energy prices and the manufacturing sector.

Germany would face a sharp recession if gas supplies from Russia are suddenly cut off, the country's leading economic institutes said on Wednesday, and the government said the war in Ukraine poses "substantial risks" for Europe's largest economy.

As EU institutions are moving to regulate the crypto industry, European lawmakers have been subjected to unprecedented levels of online harassment. Two female members of the EU Parliament have been especially targeted by the predominantly male advocates of cryptocurrencies.

Spiralling energy bills and disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine caused consumer prices in the eurozone to surge by a new record of 7.5%, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said on Friday (1 April).

More than 7,000 finance jobs have moved from London to the European Union as a result of Brexit, down 400 from the total anticipated in December, consultants EY said on Tuesday (28 March).

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (23 March) Russia would start selling gas to "unfriendly" countries in rubles, after a freeze on Russia's assets by foreign nations had destroyed Moscow's trust. The "unfriendly" countries include the 27 EU members.

Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Monday (14 March) to tighten fiscal policy a little next year after three years of pumping billions into the economy due to the coronavirus pandemic, but also to be ready with more cash should the war in Ukraine make it necessary.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday (10 March) the war in Ukraine will require joint EU investments which may lead to a new bout of joint debt, but added he would prefer to talk about the goals first rather …

France's recovery plan, dubbed 'France Relance', is challenging to implement due to being over-complicated, difficult to monitor, and involving too many actors that are not immediately identifiable, according to Pierre Moscovici, the French court of auditors president.EURACTIV France reports.

Russia adopted a list of “enemy countries” in which the whole of the EU is included. The first announced sanctions against the “enemy countries” were that Russian counterparts would settle their debts with them only in rubles.

Bulgaria supports sanctions on Russia as a means to halting its invasion of Ukraine, but will likely seek an exception on banning Russian natural gas and oil imports if such a proposal is put forward, Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said.

The European Central Bank (ECB) concluded on Monday (28 February) that Sberbank Europe is failing or likely to fail, following considerable withdrawals from the accounts of Sberbank’s European subsidiary over the past week.

While the new EU directive on corporate sustainability due diligence aims at making companies engage more actively in improving conditions, some argue that the risks of sanctions and civil liability might deter investment to the detriment of economic development.

An increasing number of EU countries have started lifting COVID-related restrictions in a first sign of returning to normality. However, there are doubts as to how ready societies are for a full return to "old normal", after two years of varying and often frustrating public measures.

The new cohesion report by the EU Commission shows that a large part of public investment in cohesion countries stems from EU cohesion funds rather than from member states themselves whose own investments are constrained by EU fiscal rules.

The Facebook-backed digital currency project Diem announced Monday (31 January) the winding down and $182-million sale of its technology, capping a years-long initiative that drew significant concern from regulators.

While the row with China has not yet influenced the short-term economic development of Lithuania, jittery investors might be a risk for medium and long-term growth prospects, Tadas Povilauskas, chief economist of Lithuania’s largest bank, told EURACTIV.

Eight EU countries known as “the alliance of responsibility" who spoke out in favour of an early return to strict debt rules in a position paper in September 2021 are being pushed towards compromise with even Germany adopting a more conciliatory tone. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Russia's central bank on Thursday (20 January) proposed banning the use and mining of cryptocurrencies on Russian territory, citing threats to financial stability, citizens' wellbeing and its monetary policy sovereignty.

Germany and France laid out differing visions for the future of the European economy Monday (17 January), signalling a fight later this year to overhaul the bloc's strict rules on government spending.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez no indication his left-leaning government is ready to support a relaxation of EU fiscal rules, even as the two agreed to work closer together on European policies.

As inflation remains high, politicians and economists turn to other measures to contain prices, and age-old discussions around price controls are flaring up again, with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán putting them into practice.

The euro has existed for over 20 years, but many EU member states still have not joined the eurozone. While Bulgaria and Croatia could soon, other member states remain hesitant, mainly for economic and political reasons.

Although officially introduced on 1 January 1999, the euro became a tangible reality for most Europeans on 1 January 2002, when the first euro coins and banknotes were put into circulation.