EU Council

• We find that credit demand is highest when
  the first lockdown ends and it drops when supportive monetary compensation schemes are implemented.
• Credit is more likely to be
  accepted under favourable borrowing conditions and after the approval of national recovery plans.
• We also find
  that demographic, economic factors, perceptions and expectations are associated with the demand for credit and
  the credit grant.
• First, it adds to a rapidly growing literature on household
  borrowing behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic; see, for example, Ho et al.
• We provide evidence that credit applications and credit acceptances display a different pattern over
  time.
• Credit is more likely to be accepted under favourable borrowing conditions and after the
  approval of national recovery plans.
• In almost all countries
  households are significantly less likely to apply and to get their credit approved than in Germany.
• In line with literature, we show that
  demographic and economic factors affect the probability for credit applications and credit approval.
• In addition,
  the paper shows that consumer perceptions and expectations matter when they decide to apply for credit.
• Introduction

  The participation of households in the credit market receives wide attention in the consumer finance literature
  because consumer credit enters the monetary policy transmission mechanism through the so-called ?credit
  channel?: changes in credit demand and supply have an effect on consumers' spending and investment, which in
  turn affect economic growth.

• We use microdata from the ECB?s Consumer Expectations Survey (hereinafter CES), a survey that
  measures consumer expectations and behaviour in the euro area.
• Its panel dimension allows for an assessment of
  how consumer behaviour changes over time and how consumers respond to critical economic shocks.
• This way we can gauge how credit applications and credit acceptances change under different, almost
  opposite, borrowing conditions.
• We also distinguish between the demand for long-term secured loans (mortgages) and for short-term
  uncollateralized loans (consumer loans).
• ECB Working Paper Series No 2922

  3

  We use probit models to estimate the probability of the consumer to apply for credit and the credit being granted.

• The rate peaks in 2020Q3 which reflects the rebound in the demand for loans when the first lockdown ended.
• In almost all countries households are significantly less likely
  to apply and to get their credit approved than in Germany.
• However,
  when it comes to credit acceptance, we observe that the two groups of households are more similar.
• Finally, we find some heterogeneity with respect to the type of credit, particularly between secured and unsecured
  debt.
• The demand for
  consumer credit is insignificant for liquid households and decreases significantly for constrained households in
  the last two quarters of our timespan.
• The first consists of a recently growing literature which
  explores consumer behaviour in the credit market during the COVID-19 pandemic, mostly in the United States.
• Sandler and Ricks (2020) show that consumers did not use credit card debt for financial liquidity in the early stage
  of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• (2020) report that credit card applications and new mortgage loans
  declined during the first months of the pandemic in regions with more unemployment insurance claims.
• Lu and
  Van der Klaauw (2021) show that there was a sharp drop in consumer credit demand, especially for credit cards.
• (2022) document that there was a substantial decrease in the usage of credit cards and home equity lines
  of credit by Canadian consumers.
• Our paper is also consonant with studies on the association between financial and demographic factors and
  consumers? participation in the credit market as well as on the demand for specific types of credit.
• January 2020 ? October 2020 - The two main events are the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the
  consequential lockdowns in the euro area.
• 4 If the
  respondent has applied for more than one type of credit, she is asked to refer to the most recent credit application.
• Between 2021Q3 and 2022Q3 the acceptance
  rate stays above the average values, mirroring the easing of credit standards for consumer credit and other lending
  to households during this period.
• Second, we can investigate the presence of nonlinearities in how liquidity and the credit type interact in explaining credit applications.
• (2023) ? who show that in the United States the local pandemic severity had a strong
  negative effect on credit card spending early in the pandemic, which diminished over time.
• First, we select mortgages and consumer credit as the two mostly reported categories for secured and

  13

  The full estimation results are reported in Table 3.

• The right-hand side panel of Figure 6 shows that the demand for consumer credit is insignificant for both liquid
  and illiquid households.
• It also shows that
  subjective perceptions of credit access, financial concerns and expectations on interest rates matter for the demand
  for credit.
• In Bertola, G., Disney
  R., and Grant, C. (eds) The Economics of Consumer Credit, Cambridge MA, MIT Press.
• Horvath, A., Kay, B. and Wix, C. (2023) The COVID-19 shock and consumer credit: Evidence from credit card
  data.
• Magri, S. (2007) Italian households? debt: The participation to the debt market and the size of the loan.

• As a result, Greenwood is on a path to reach its target production level and cost position during fourth-quarter 2023.
• Enviva continues to advance cost-reduction and productivity initiatives designed to improve the financial and operating performance of its fully contracted assets.
• During second-quarter 2023, management was able to reduce DAP cost by approximately $3 per MT as compared to first-quarter 2023, and reduced DAP cost by $9 per MT from first-quarter 2023 to June 2023.
• Enviva will host a webcast and conference call on Thursday, August 3, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss second-quarter results and the Company’s outlook.

• This meeting is important for both regions but, especially for Europe, given the current geopolitical pressures it is facing.
• We live in a world in transition towards a new model that is still uncertain after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Several concerned Latin American countries requested the summit be suspended and called on CELAC to speak out against Nicolás Maduro’s regime.

Cooled relations

• The pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the Spanish presidency are the main factors that reactivated the EU-CELAC relationship at the highest level.
• The first two highlighted some of the EU’s major structural threats and weaknesses in terms of military dependence on NATO, Europe’s essential defence base, strategic industrial dependence and energy dependence – especially on Russia.

Spain takes the initiative

• In this context of European vulnerability, the Foreign Affairs Council of 18 July 2022 agreed to “promote a qualitative leap in relations between the EU and LAC countries”, with Spain taking the initiative to hold the summit under its presidency of the EU Council.
• It also includes green and digital alliances within the framework of the Global Gateway investment strategy.
• The EU needs a real strategic relationship with LAC, however complex and heterogeneous the region may be.
• However, it cannot accompany it in the application of sanctions – its strategic vulnerability can’t assume the cost of sanctions.

What success would look like

• The main success factor of the summit will be the abandonment of Eurocentrism.
• Taking that into account, the international value of Latin America and the Caribbean in the developing global scenario is incalculable.

• Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 President-Designate, met with EU energy and environment ministers in Spain to build momentum and foster cooperation for a successful and inclusive COP28.
• To finance the energy transition Dr. Al Jaber said, "We need to streamline and simplify access to climate finance and find new and scalable mechanisms to channel substantial private sector investment into the Global South."
• MADRID, Spain, July 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 President-Designate, met EU Energy and Environment Ministers, as Spain assumes the EU Council Presidency, to discuss the plans and objectives for the upcoming COP28 conference.
• The meetings aimed to build momentum and foster cooperation with the EU to drive action on climate finance and tripling global renewable energy capacity.