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Economy
Diversity in the workplace
Est. 1minThe pandemic that washed over Europe did not only lay bare the continent's health vulnerabilities but also exposed the consequences of deep-seated inequalities. A report by the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) published in April acknowledged the …
EU faces tough post-Brexit test with 2021-2027 budget
Est. 2minUnlike national governments who adopt budgets every year, EU finances cover a seven-year period and need to be agreed by all 27 member states. The bloc's next budget, the first after Brexit, will be debated by EU leaders on Thursday …
Industry 4.0: The future of manufacturing is here
Est. 1minThe European Commission is preparing an action plan for publication in April to mobilise an estimated €25 billion to harness the potential of the fourth industrial revolution, euractiv.com has learned.
TTIP’s regulatory maze
Est. 1minThe Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), dubbed a second-generation trade deal in the wake of the moribund WTO Doha negotiations, seeks to go beyond conventional tariffs and quotas, by strengthening the international order through greater regulatory cooperation.
TTIP for dummies
Est. 1minIn the wake of the global economic crisis and the deadlocked Doha round of international trade talks, the EU and the United States started negotiating a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which seeks to go beyond traditional trade deals and create a genuine transatlantic single market. But the road ahead is paved with hurdles.
Fighting youth unemployment: an EU priority
Est. 1minBetween 2007 and 2013, youth unemployment reached record highs across Europe, dramatically increasing from 15.7% to 23.4%, according to Eurostat. EU heads of state and government agreed in February 2013 to launch a €6 billion Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) to get more young people into work.
Payment Services Directive: The new payments landscape
Est. 1minThe Payment Services Directive (PSD) was adopted by the EU Council of Ministers in March 2007, but an explosion in e-commerce through the internet and the ownership and use of smartphones has taken place since then. In response to the challenge posed by technology to traditional payments methods, the Commission published a green paper called: ‘Towards an integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments,’ as a precursor to further rules changes. Following a consultation period an updated Payment Services Directive (PSD II) was published this summer (July 24), with a separate regulation on multilateral interchange fees (MIFs).
Digital agenda: Connecting the EU
Est. 1minHigh-speed Internet for all - including on mobile phones - and lower consumer prices are the main highlights of the European Commission's digital agenda, a five-year plan to ensure higher connectivity for EU citizens and business.
Efficient energy: Making savings at source
Est. 1minEuropean efforts to increase energy efficiency have so far primarily focused on measures to improve end-use efficiency, and the potential to reduce huge losses that occur in the production and delivery of power have largely been ignored.
New skills and jobs: Mind the gap
Est. 1minMatching workers' skills with the demands of employers is seen as crucial to boosting employment rates, restoring growth and tackle looming labour shortages in sectors like health care, science and the green economy.
What goes around comes around: Recycling and climate change
Est. 1minRecycling has become a central part of the EU's climate change strategy by helping the bloc to tackle the nearly three billion tonnes of waste produced by Europe annually, much of which enters the atmosphere in the form of CO2 and methane emissions from landfill sites and incineration plants.
Cloud computing: A legal maze for Europe
Est. 1minThe migration of computing into a cloud of massive data centres spread all over the world is giving regulators a headache as they find themselves on the back foot of an industry-driven trend.
Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs
Est. 1minErasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a European Union pilot programme that pays new entrepreneurs to learn from experienced businesspeople in other member states. The European Commission wants to make it permanent, with a lot more financial fire-power, to boost cross-border trade.
EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020
Est. 1minThe cohesion policy (or regional policy) of the European Union provides a framework for financing a wide range of projects and investments with the aim of encouraging economic growth in EU member states and their regions. The policy is reviewed by the EU institutions once every seven years. The next round of programmes is to be launched in 2014.
Digital agenda: Connecting the EU
Est. 1minHigh-speed Internet for all - including on mobile phones - and lower consumer prices are the main highlights of the European Commission's digital agenda, a five-year plan to ensure higher connectivity for EU citizens and business.
Regions fighting climate change
Est. 1minLed by cities, EU regions are playing a frontline role in the fight against climate change as they make key investment decisions regarding the new generation of clean energy and transport projects.
The EU’s economic governance: Rewriting the rulebook
Est. 1minThe Greek sovereign debt crisis is forcing Europeans to rethink the coordination of their national economic policies, confronting the euro area with its most severe test since its launch eleven years ago.
Regional policy in the EU: A midterm healthcheck
Est. 1minEU regional policy is designed to level out economic and social disparities in the 27 member states. At the halfway point of its current regional budgetary period (2007-2013), the European Commission conducted a review assessing how well each EU country is faring in its use of cohesion funds.
Payment Services Directive: The end of the cash era?
Est. 1minEurope has been on the cusp of a payments revolution since 2007, when it established a single rulebook setting the same payment standards and obligations across the 31-member EU/EEA. But the Payments Services Directive and a voluntary payments scheme, the Single Euro Payments Area, were welcomed only guardedly by the industry and member states and banks have been slow to implement both initiatives.
The new European Commission
Est. 1minThe selection of a new European Commission, never the simplest of political tasks, has this year been more complex than ever. Politically and institutionally, 2009 came with a whole range of permutations regarding the 'how?', 'when?' and 'who?' of the next EU executive.
The Spanish EU Presidency
Est. 1minSpain takes on the European Union's six-month rotating presidency at a defining moment for the bloc, marked by the first steps of the Union's first-ever permanent president and foreign affairs chief and efforts to lift Europe out of its worst recession in decades.
Advertising and Consumer Rights
Est. 1minTraditionally, EU laws on advertising applied to print and broadcast media, but as adverts increasingly migrate to an unregulated online world, lawmakers and consumer groups are exploring ways to ensure that digital marketing does not infringe consumer rights.
Labour market reforms
Est. 1minIn the wake of the global financial and economic crises, the EU is developing a new labour market strategy as part of its successor to the 'Lisbon Agenda' for economic, social and environmental reform, which is due to end in 2010. The new roadmap will retain many of the previous ambitions, but will also be shaped by EU leaders' exit strategies.
Enlargement and the euro
Est. 1minIn accordance with the provisions of the Maastricht Treaty, all new members of the European Union are eligible and compelled to join the bloc's single currency, the euro. Of the twelve member states that joined the Union between 2004 and 2007, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia have fulfilled the convergence criteria and are now part of the euro area.