Economy & Jobs
EU exploring ways to use Russian oligarchs’ frozen assets to rebuild Ukraine
The European Union is looking into ways of using the frozen assets of Russian oligarchs to fund the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday (19 May).
EU to extend budget rule suspension because of Ukraine war
Rules against overspending by EU governments will remain suspended through 2023, extending a pandemic-era reprieve because of the war in Ukraine, sources said on Thursday (19 May).
G7 agree on $18.4 billion to keep Ukraine running, ready with more
The Group of Seven's financial leaders agreed on $18.4 billion to help Ukraine pay its bills in coming months and said they were ready to stand by Kyiv throughout its war with Russia and do more if needed.
MEPs back one-year trade liberalisation with Ukraine
The European Parliament has endorsed the suspension for one year of all tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian exports, including agricultural products, processed agricultural products, and fruit and vegetables.
France effective in combatting financial crime, though some critical gaps remain
France ranks among the top OECD countries in the effective tackling of financial crime, the Financial Action Task Force’s latest evaluation report claims. However, illicit financial dealings related to drug trafficking in French overseas territories are proving hard to combat.
Access to justice key in corporate sustainability due diligence directive, stakeholders say
Giving those harmed by multinational companies a way to seek recourse, reparation, and justice is one of the goals of the corporate sustainability due diligence directive, but in practice, it may be easier said than done. VideoPromoted content
IndustriAll Europe’s Just Transition Manifesto
This manifesto is industrial workers’ call to policymakers to ensure a Just Transition.OpinionPromoted content
A Just Transition Manifesto to save the Green Deal
IndustriAll Europe’s Just Transition Manifesto makes clear demands to policymakers across Europe to ensure a transition to a green economy that is fair for all workers, and that preserves and creates good quality jobs. Failure to match our climate ambitions with equally strong social ambitions will otherwise be the downfall of the Green Deal.
Social Taxonomy risks death by Commission neglect
While the debate regarding the environmental taxonomy is raging between EU member state governments, the project of establishing a social taxonomy is put on the backburner by the EU Commission, according to multiple sources.
China’s economy skids as lockdowns hit factories, retailers
China's retail and factory activity fell sharply in April as wide COVID-19 lockdowns confined workers and consumers to their homes and severely disrupted supply chains, casting a long shadow over the outlook for the world's second-largest economy.
EU Commission proposes tax cut to incentivise equity investments
As most corporate tax systems in the EU currently prefer debt financing over equity and EU companies are highly indebted, the EU Commission proposed the introduction of a tax allowance that should incentivise the accrual of new equity rather than debt.
Commissioner Schmit: You cannot make money on social services
Social economy should not be thought of as an alternative to public services, according to the European Commissioner for jobs and social rights, who nevertheless argued there was a need for a "third way" between the private, profit-oriented economy and publicly provided services that can be served by social economy.
Putin says sanctions hurting West more than Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Western countries were worse hit by sanctions imposed on Moscow over Ukraine than Russia, which he insists has been resilient in the face of "external challenges".
Swiss release some frozen Russian assets
The Swiss government on Thursday (12 May) reported 6.3 billion Swiss francs (€6.05 billion) worth of Russian assets frozen under sanctions to punish Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a drop from early April as around 3.4 billion francs in provisionally blocked assets were released.
Mayor: The pandemic gave birth to new ideas for Dubrovnik’s future
“The time of the COVID crisis for us was a period of restart, which gave us time to rearrange, to rethink,” Mato Franković said, adding that the new projects aim to stabilise economic recovery after two years of significant losses.
The cost of market concentration
Technological progress and lax anti-trust enforcement have led to high market concentration, which in turn led to ballooning profits of some big corporations, to the detriment of economic development, economics professor Jan Eeckhout told EURACTIV in an interview.
Setting up the European social economy to thrive
From idealism to action. Now, for the first time, the social economy and social investment have a seat at the EU’s policy table.
Conservatives prepare to battle on platform workers directive, rally up with industry
Conservative MEPs from the European People's Party (EPP) are preparing their counter-offensive against the rapporteur's push for tight employment protection for platform workers, joining forces with the industry.OpinionPromoted content
European Association Summit – 10 editions of constant evolution
The European Association Summit has celebrated its 10th edition. A gathering aimed at education, networking, and discovery keeps being a strong signal that Brussels is the world’s capital of international associations and that it is a perfect ground for fruitful projects and connections.
Financing the social economy
Defined by its mission rather than by what it produces, the social economy is a peculiar economic sector with a set of its own challenges, especially when it comes to funding. Published by the European Commission in December 2021, the...
State of play in social economy finance in the EU
Trying to push the social economy as a flourishing sector of the economy, the EU is using a variety of ways to overcome the tension at the heart of the social economy: How do you attract money to a sector that defines itself as not being about the money?
Deliberative democracy experiment calls for Brussels involvement in education policy
As the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) ends and 49 proposals were presented to EU leadership, amongst them is the idea that Brussels gets involved in education policy, at a minimum in civics education.
Leading MEP pushes for tight employment protection in platform workers directive
Centre-left lawmaker Elisabetta Gualmini has significantly expanded provisions for platform workers to ask for employee status and the human review of algorithm management in her draft report.