Economy & Jobs Archives

Sensitive party politicking in the run-up to the appointment of the next European Commission has further escalated an already intense debate in Greece over a new law under which members of an independent competition authority have  been ousted.

Google is using a "surreptitious mechanism" to leak personal data to advertisers, according to new evidence presented to the Irish Data Protection Commission as part of an ongoing investigation.

Christine Lagarde promised on Wednesday (4 September) to respond with “agility” to the looming financial and economic turbulences once she becomes the president of the European Central Bank in November, while confirming that the current loose monetary stance will continue for a “long period of time.”

The Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), which brings together the EU’s member states, has requested an analysis note from the European Commission to further look into the risks posed by Facebook’s controversial digital currency Libra and the ways to regulate it.

The US and Poland have signed a joint declaration to collaborate on 5G security in what US Vice President Mike Pence said would "set a vital example for the rest of Europe."

Switzerland is unlikely to strike a deal with the European Union this year over a stalled partnership treaty, its economy minister said, extending an impasse that has hurt bilateral ties and disrupted cross-border share trading.

A growing number of Germans believe migrants drive wages down and burden the welfare system, according to a study analysing the attitude of Germans towards foreigners before and after the 2015 refugee crisis. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Germany is facing a recession, with business confidence plunging to levels not seen since the global economic crisis of 2009. As a result, calls for increased investment are growing louder – but possibly for the wrong reasons, EURACTIV Germany reports.

The UK will decide by the autumn whether to grant Huawei involvement in the country's future 5G investment, according to Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan. Meanwhile, the Chinese firm remains confident and its founder recently told EURACTIV that it is "very likely" Huawei products will be used in future UK core 5G networks.

French President Emmanuel Macron steered a tense G7 summit towards a happy conclusion on Monday (26 August), in what will be remembered as one of the most conciliatory gatherings since Donald Trump took over the US presidency.

Grim as it may seem, the burning of the Amazon rainforest is an opportunity for the EU’s new leaders to prove that Brussels walks the walk when it comes to climate change.

The Greek government fully lifted the capital controls introduced during the crisis in 2015 on Monday (26 August), in a sign of its growing economic confidence following the end of the bailout programme last year.

France's minister of public action and accounts, Gérald Darmanin, wants to reform VAT collection for e-commerce platforms. The French minister also wishes to draw inspiration from the EU's tax haven blacklist to establish a similar one for fraudulent platforms. EURACTIV's partner La Tribune reports.

It may sound like a strange thing to enshrine in a country's constitution: the right to pay cash. But a debate on whether to do just that has entered Austria's election campaign, shining a light on the country's love of cold, hard currency.

The EU will react with new tariffs against US products if Donald Trump decides to impose duties on French wine, European Council President Donald Tusk said hours before the opening of what is likely to be a heated G7 summit on Saturday (24 August).

The leaders of the G7 nations will not sign a final comuniqué when they gather in Biarritz (France) this weekend, and will instead discuss how to rethink capitalism and multilateralism amid the persistent inequalities and the risk of a new recession. 

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has threatened to vote against a trade deal between the EU and South American trade bloc Mercosur unless Brazil, where wildfires continue to devastate the Amazon rainforest, takes its environmental obligations more seriously.

From Saturday (24 July) onwards, G7 leaders will discuss the global economic situation in Biarritz, France. The discussion will likely focus on extremely low-interest rates, which represent both an opportunity and a risky temptation for over-indebted European countries. EURACTIV France reports.

EU antitrust regulators want to know whether Facebook’s proposed Libra cryptocurrency and its use of consumer data pose possible anti-competitive constraints, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday (21 August).

Almost half of the UK's digital exports go to the European Union, recently published UK government figures have revealed, amid growing concerns in the tech industry ahead of the country's scheduled departure from the EU at the end of 31 October.

About twenty US states are worried about the monopolistic tendencies of tech giants, and are close to launching a joint antitrust investigation next month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday (19 August). EURACTIV's partner La Tribune reports.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday (20 August) gave a foretaste of his convention-wrecking diplomacy at next weekend's G7 by calling for Russia - expelled from the group of democracies - to be readmitted.