“Recent moves to delay and dilute vital regulatory protections reflect a worrying trend where ‘competitiveness’ is repeatedly used as a pretext to weaken essential safeguards against financial risks,” he said. Now, with Donald Trump returning to the White House in a matter of weeks, the future of the rules looks uncertain — which creates a … Read more
One of the most politically sensitive topics in Brussels, the €1.2 trillion budget governs spending on anything from support to Ukraine to film subsidies. Hawkish Eastern European and Nordic countries including Poland and Sweden are keen to boost EU spending on defense, while Southern ones such as Italy and Greece would like more cash to … Read more
Dirty secret That’s where Germany comes in. The dirty little secret of European R&D spending is that half of it comes from Germany. And most of that investment flows into one sector: automotive. While that might seem obvious given the sector’s size (the German auto industry’s annual revenue is nearly half a trillion euros), it’s not where … Read more
Only, some in the boat are baling and paddling more vigorously than others. As Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau told a radio interviewer recently, France is alone in not having made the reforms that many of its neighbors (“even the Italians!”) have made since the last crisis. And, while political will at … Read more
First, AI professionals in the EU lead in green skills — performing jobs in a more environmentally sustainable way — compared with their peers in the US and UK. Today, 8.1 percent of AI talent in the EU have at least one green skill, compared with 5.8 percent in the US and 7.4 percent in … Read more
Some capitals are also worried their own national champions might be the target of a takeover by a bigger European rival. “Operators of all sizes should have business opportunities in the single market and be able to benefit from and contribute to effective competition,” the document reads. Back off, Mario Draghi didn’t exactly win over … Read more
Von der Leyen has made Draghi’s suggestions the center of her second term as Commission president, incorporating their main conclusions ― apart from joint EU borrowing ― in the political program she asked the European Parliament to support over the summer. Presenting her new team before the Parliament on Wednesday, von der Leyen announced the … Read more
The tech race is on, and Europe is falling behind. In seven of the eight critical technologies that will shape the future – from space tech to quantum computing – we lag other economies. Targets for big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud adoption are slipping out of reach. Our GDP growth has stagnated while … Read more
Consider Anca Gheorghe, a 23-year-old Roma woman from Romania. She attended a poorly resourced school with unqualified teachers and faced unfair discrimination, leaving her with limited opportunities. Left with virtually no other options, she joined an EU-funded vocational program to train as a hairdresser, hoping for financial independence. Yet, there are already enough hairdressers in … Read more
The Trump administration “will continue to protect [its interests] at the risk of dismantling value chains between Europeans and Americans,” Macron warned, while urging Brussels to take action with a more aggressive trade policy of its own, building on the example of recent EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. “Trump’s election is a moment of … Read more
