Growing current account imbalances within the euro area between 1999 and 2007 were not driven by divergences in export performance between surplus and deficit countries. While current account dynamics are highly correlated with unit labour costs (ULC) and imports, it is not the case for exports....

The Euro Plus Pact was approved by 23 EU countries in March 2011 and came into force shortly afterwards. The Pact stipulates a range of quantitative targets meant to strengthen cost competitiveness with the aim of preventing the accumulation of external financial imbalances. This paper uses...

In this paper we present a novel approach to the empirical validation of the intertemporal approach to the current account. We develop a calibrated model highlighting the role of consumption smoothing and capital accumulation in the economic convergence process. After solving the model, we...

The management report is an integral part of the ECB's Annual Accounts and is designed to provide readers with contextual information related to the financial statements. Given that the ECB's activities and operations are undertaken in support of its policy objectives, its financial position and...

TARGET2-Securities (T2S) is a pan-European platform for securities settlement, developed and operated by the Eurosystem. By September 2017, 22 central securities depositories (CSDs), covering 20 European markets had joined the platform, and now settle euro securities transactions in T2S. The...

This report presents the findings of the third post-programme surveillance (PPS) mission of European Commission staff, in liaison with staff from the European Central Bank (ECB), which took place in Cyprus from 25 to 29 September 2017. Given that Cyprus has been identified as experiencing...

This report presents the findings of the third post-programme surveillance (PPS) mission of European Commission staff, in liaison with staff from the European Central Bank (ECB), which took place in Cyprus from 25 to 29 September 2017. Given that Cyprus has been identified as experiencing...