The Council presidency and European Parliament negotiators reached a provisional agreement on a proposal to streamline certain rules regarding artificial intelligence (AI).

The proposal forms part of the so-called ‘Omnibus VII’ legislative package in the EU’s simplification agenda. The package includes proposals for two regulations aiming to simplify the EU’s digital legislative framework and the implementation of harmonised rules on AI.

“Today’s agreement on the AI act significantly supports ou...

With the EU Biotech Act marking a major push to strengthen Europe’s biotechnology sector, new OECD research offers a timely check on where the bloc stands. The evidence shows that Europe still lags competitors in biotech start-up creation, patenting and venture capital funding. This blog unpacks the gap and explores how agile regulation and smarter financing tools can help EU policymakers build a more competitive biotechnology start-up ecosystem.

Biotechnology has the potential to drive economic...

Resilience, supervision, and international coordination are essential to safeguarding global financial markets as new AI tools enable attackers.

Artificial intelligence is transforming how the financial system copes with vulnerabilities and reacts to incidents. Yet it is also amplifying cyber threats that can undermine financial stability when the offensive capabilities of intruders outpace defenses.

IMF analysis suggests that extreme cyber‑incident losses could trigger funding strains, raise so...

Today, the EU and US signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a strategic partnership on critical minerals and agreed an EU-US Critical Minerals Action Plan. These initiatives reflect the EU’s commitment to deepen cooperation on critical raw materials. This is a key step in enhancing resilience and diversification of supply chains, amid shared geopolitical and economic challenges.

Signed today by Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Šefčovič and US Secretary of State Marco Rub...

The Council today provisionally agreed new rules to strengthen the fight against value added tax (VAT) fraud in the EU by ramping up cooperation between member states, the European public prosecutor’s office (EPPO) and the European anti-fraud office (OLAF).

The new framework will give EPPO and OLAF more direct access to key VAT data on cross-border business transactions in the EU, including information held by Eurofisc – the EU’s anti-VAT fraud network.

” We have taken massive strides in tacklin...

• The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is a key instrument to improve market openness and fairness, competition, and user choice in the EU
• New challenges posed by generative AI and cloud services need to be addressed
• External pressure must not compromise the EU’s sovereignty and autonomy to define its rules
• Effective and proportionate fines essential to ensure deterrence and safeguarding DMA’s effectiveness

MEPs are pushing for the Commission’s timely and effective enforcement of the EU’s Digit...

On 1 May, the EU-Mercosur Interim Trade Agreement (ITA) will start being provisionally applied. This will allow EU producers, exporters, and farmers to start reaping the benefits of this deal as of day one. 

The provisional application of the ITA will create new opportunities, supporting the exports of industrial goods, services, and agri-food products to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. It will immediately remove or drastically reduce tariffs on key exports such as cars, pharmaceuticals...

Blog | Shipping and flight disruptions highlight new fault lines in the global economy and their costs for growth and livelihoods.

The war in the Middle East has severely disrupted maritime and air traffic, damaging infrastructure and interrupting transport corridors that are critical for global energy and goods. Even in the best case, there will be no neat and clean return to the way things were.

The Chart of the Week illustrates one reason for concern. In the Red Sea, attacks on shipping that ...

Several key minerals that are essential inputs for digital and renewable energy technologies face high exposure to export restrictions, and the number of restrictions continues to rise, a new OECD report finds.

The annual update of the OECD Inventory of Export Restrictions on Critical Raw Materials tracks export restrictions and supports analysis of their impact on availability, prices and global supply chains. The OECD continues to monitor these measures over time. The latest edition, which ana...