European Commission, DG Economic and Financial Affairs.
The April 2011 issue of the Quarterly Report focuses on the EU’s economic policy response to the crisis since its outbreak in 2008, placing a particular emphasis on the comprehensive package of policy measures agreed by the European Council in March 2011. The Council’s decision to establish a permanent crisis resolution mechanism in the form of the European Stability Mechanism and the sealing of the Euro Plus Pact complement prior policy action spanning the entire economic, budgetary and financial sphere. A second focus section examines the recent upward drift in euro area inflation, stressing the importance of cyclical, but also of structural and political explanatory factors. The acceleration of inflation is found to be mainly driven by commodities prices, especially oil, whereas underlying price pressures remain subdued due to the large amount of spare capacity and well-anchored expectations.