In 2023, the EU imported €478 billion worth of high-tech products, a slight decrease compared with 2022 (-1%). At the same time, exports reached €461 billion (+3% compared with 2022).
Portugal achieved a remarkable recovery from the successive shocks that hit the global economy since the pandemic. Growth exceeded the euro area (EA) average. Inflation decelerated fast. The fiscal position improved substantially, achieving a large surplus in 2023 and an impressive public debt reduction by 36 percentage points of GDP since 2020 to 99 percent of GDP. However, subdued productivity growth, population aging, and low investment remain key constraints to
“Futurists have dreamed of an autonomous, thinking machine throughout the modern era. Benjamin Franklin once lost a game of chess to such a machine, the ‘Mechanical Turk’; of course, there was a human chess master hidden inside. Nowadays, chess engines that beat the top players can run on your phone. So, what exactly makes these machines merit the label of ‘artificial intelligence’ ?” – U.S. Fed Governor Lisa D. Cook.
The EU Commission has approved the acquisition of Lombard International Assurance Holdings S.à.r.l., based in Luxembourg, by Utmost International Group Holdings Limited, based in the United Kingdom. The transaction mainly concerns the insurance sector, in particular the provision of wealth planning, inheritance, and succession solutions.
On Monday, EU Commission presented the interim evaluation of InvestEU, the EU flagship investment programme designed to facilitate better access to finance for companies across Europe in support of common priorities. So far, InvestEU has unlocked €218 billion in additional investments, with 90% of the EU guarantee allocated.
ESMA, the EU’s financial markets regulator and supervisor, has published its 2025 Annual Work Programme, which reaffirms ESMA’s strategic orientation and commitment to safeguarding resilient, transparent, and sustainable European financial markets.
The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) have appointed Marc Andries to lead their new joint Directorate in charge of oversight activities for critical third-party providers established by the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).
Inflation, completing the capital markets and banking unions and the implications of the Draghi report on competitiveness featured prominently during the hearing of ECB President Lagarde.
“It is clear that the international dimension of this work will need to continue to be developed. The Task Force is called to play a major role in that respect by further facilitating the exchange of operational information, knowledge and best practices” – EU Commissioner Didier Reynders.
Reports from Russian media and businesses also indicate that several Chinese banks have ceased their cooperation with Russia due to concerns over US secondary sanctions.
These are the headlines of our weekly Insight EU Finance Monitoring, published last Friday night. We publish the headlines of our Insight EU Monitoring mails delayed by several days. To receive real-time monitoring emails, subscribe to our annual target group full-text services on the Insight EU Store page.
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