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The term "quantitative tightening" refers to the process of decreasing the central bank's balance sheet through a reduction of asset holdings acquired during "quantitative easing". Over the years, the Eurosystem acquired a substantial portfolio of assets as part of its asset purchase programmes. While the European Central Bank (ECB)'s Governing Council decided already in 2022 to stop net purchases, reinvestments of principal repayments continued until March 2023, thus maintaining the exisiting stock ...

Even if QT is as inefficient as QE at affecting inflation, now is the time to cut the size of central banks’ balance sheets. The stabilising effects of large balance sheets are eroded as the financial markets adapt to excess reserves. If QT proves to be financially destabilising, it can be temporarily interrupted, possibly even reversed. This document was provided by the Economic Governance and EMU Scrutiny Unit at the request of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) ahead of the ...

The EU can become a global standard-setter in the area of artificial intelligence (AI) ethics. Common EU legislative action on ethical aspects of AI could boost the internal market and establish an important strategic advantage. While numerous public and private actors around the globe have produced ethical guidelines in this field, there is currently no comprehensive legal framework. The EU can profit from the absence of a competing global governance model and gain full 'first mover' advantages. ...

Deforestation caused by agricultural activity is continuing at an alarming rate, threatening irreplaceable tropical forests that, among other things, are crucial for fighting climate change. The EU bears its share of responsibility for this environmental loss, as it is one of the major importers of several forest-risk commodities. To date, action has been taken at different levels to stop commodity-driven deforestation. Nevertheless, the impact on forest loss has been low as deforestation continues ...

This study performs a “reality check” of Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions (PPPAs) included in the EU budget over 2014-2019 and assesses their use as a strategic political tool. It covers 324 PPPAs with an aggregate value of EUR 337 million to date. PPPAs can trigger new or fine-tune existing legislation or policy and generate important lessons learnt. However, there is no systematic data to assess their effectiveness. The study identifies a series of areas for improvement.

The European Implementation Assessment (EIA) evaluates the implementation of the EU association agreement (EU AA), including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA), with the Republic of Moldova. The EIA presents progress and challenges in the implementation of reforms in this Eastern Partnership country since July 2018, when a previous report was published, until now. The EIA consists of two parts, an opening analysis prepared internally by the DG EPRS and a briefing paper prepared ...

The cattle sector is of great economic importance within the EU agricultural sector. Productivity of the sector is very heterogeneous. In the near future, a further increase in milk and bovine meat supply can be expected. To avoid a decline in farm gate prices, further product differentiation at the EU level, an increase in export opportunities as well as compensation for environmental services to support extensification will be needed.

In advance of the decision of the European Central Bank (ECB), expected on 8 December 2016, regarding the Asset Purchase Programme (APP, often referred as Quantitative Easing – QE) this note provides an insight to possible policy options for the ECB. It also looks at the ECB’s options to address the scarcity of eligible assets; if not addressed, scarcity of eligible assets could put at risk the proper functioning of the APP.

The aim of the study is to provide the Members of the Parliament's Fisheries Committee with a clear description of the corporate structure of the EU seafood industry (fishing, processing and the retail market). It provides a description of both the horizontal and vertical integration in the industry through the use of case studies. The research utilised both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in order to provide an in-depth and nuanced picture of integration in EU fisheries.

.A benchmarking exercise of a number of Digital Single Market policy initiatives recently proposed by the European Commission against the performance-based policy model shows that the current policy development and assessment process could be improved markedly by following the performance-based policy model set out in the present study. The key features of a performance-based full policy cycle are a clear articulation of policy objectives, the identification and use of quantitative indicators of ...