Economy & Jobs Archives

After 20 years of negotiations, the text of the EU-Mercosur deal was concluded between the EU and the Latin American countries of Mercosur on 28 June in Brussels. While the agreement still has to be approved by the European Parliament and Council, farmers and environmental NGOs are still disappointed. EURACTIV's partner le Journal de l'environnement reports.

European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen called on Thursday (2 July) a mini-summit for next week with her counterparts at the Council, Parliament and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to work towards a deal on the EU recovery package.

Malaysia will file a lawsuit at the World Trade Organisation over the European Union's plans to end the use of palm oil-based biofuels, a minister said Wednesday (2 July).

Mercosur ministers reported progress on the final text of a trade agreement with the European Union on Wednesday (1 July) on the eve of a summit meeting overshadowed by French President Emmanuel Macron's latest comments against the deal.

The European Fiscal Board on Tuesday (1 July) recommended to get rid of the EU's debt threshold of 60% of GDP and instead adopt realistic debt targets specific to the bloc's national economies.

As Germany took over the EU Council Presidency on Wednesday (1 July), Economy Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) presented plans for reorienting the bloc's economic policy, signalling Germany's commitment towards non-EU countries and confirming the focus on the digital and green economy. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The European Commission has laid out ambitious new goals for upskilling and reskilling its citizens by 2025, including the objective of ensuring that 70% of the EU adult population has basic digital skills.

The UK government must introduce new measures to check the dominance of tech giants Google and Facebook in digital advertising and help make space for other players, Britain's competition watchdog said on Wednesday (7 July).

Hit hard by the pandemic, Europe’s hospitality sector is struggling to find a way out of the current chaos. Speaking to EURACTIV, its representatives have painted a bleak picture and called on governments to take immediate action to help the sector revive rapidly before it’s too late.

The so-called "Southern Common Market" or Mercosur hopes to finally sign by the end of this year the association agreement with the European Union reached in June 2019 after two decades of negotiations, Paraguay's Foreign Minister Antonio Rivas declared on Tuesday (30 June). EURACTIV's partner EFE Asunción reports.

The European Commission wants to create a Europe fit for the digital age. Its digital tax proposal goes in the opposite direction, argues Jörgen Warborn.

Portugal and Italy are both flirting with bringing their flag-carrying airlines under state-ownership to combat the economic hardships caused or exacerbated by the global pandemic.

As the summer kicks in and EU countries have been easing travel restriction, I decided to experience what it is like to travel during a pandemic by flying from Brussels to Malaga (Spain).

Airbus on Tuesday (30 June) unveiled plans to shed 15,000 jobs within a year, including 900 already earmarked in Germany, saying its future was at stake after the coronavirus outbreak paralysed air travel.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has met the principle of proportionality with its flagship stimulus programme, Germany's finance minister and lawmakers said, ending a legal conflict that threatened to undermine central bank policy.

The European Union needs to transform its coal-mining regions into the source of minerals for clean technology, such as cobalt and rare earths, if it is to meet its climate goals and curb import reliance, a senior official said on Monday.

The European Commission will unveil later this year a strategy to integrate the retail payment sector in Europe and reduce dependency on third-country credit card firms. Mastercard, one of those players, is supportive of the EU strategy, its senior executive, Jason Lane, told EURACTIV.

The COVID-19 crisis led to new creative solutions and long-term policies to make society more resilient to future shocks.

The Youth Guarantee scheme will be relaunched this week and the Commission must  learn from the mistakes of its first run, argue Ludovic Voet and Tea Jarc.

European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said on Monday (29 June) he would not seek to become the next director-general of the World Trade Organisation, despite having previously stated he was looking into the possibility.

As we slowly emerge from the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, one thing is clear – it has brought to the front various aspects of gender equality issues in Research and Innovation (R&I), writes Marcela Linkova.

The Netherlands' national airline, KLM, is set for a €3.4 billion bailout package should it meet certain employment, financial and sustainability targets, the Dutch government announced on Friday (26 June). It still requires regulatory approval from Brussels.

Ministers Nadia Calviño (Spain), Paschal Donohoe (Ireland) and Pierre Gramegna (Luxembourg) will compete for the Eurogroup Presidency. While Calviño could become the first woman to chair the body, her colleagues promised to become ‘bridge builders’ between the different positions.