One such condition are competitive markets which are enshrined in agreements and treaties that safeguard the free movement of goods, capital and services – and, in the European Union, of labour as well. 3.1 Free trade And on that score, the outlook certainly grew dimmer last year.
Two years after its onset, the economic fall-out of the pandemic appears to be subsiding, and the extraordinary fiscal and monetary support measures that kept economies 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  afloat are being gradually unwound. But as the economic recovery is proceeding at an uneven pace across regions, this unwinding process is increasingly likely to be asynchronous.