Germany’s The Left calls for four-day working week
Germany’s Die Linke - The Left - outlined an “ambitious” plan for German workers; the introduction of a four-day week on full pay being one.
Economy
Latest reporting and analysis on economy.
EC drops agriculture from climate change plan after farmers’ protests
The threat of renewed protests by farmers will cloud any EU attempts to set climate policy, while "pushback from the agriculture sector will further undermine efforts…
Real estate investors turn to lawyers after ‘huge’ CO2 shock
Real estate investors already battered by high-interest rates now face the prospect of significant writedowns triggered by new European regulations.
Ukraine switches off power exports as Russian attacks hit home
Amid a continued Russian bombardment on Ukraine's energy infrastructure that has seen its top power producer DTEK lose 50 per cent of its capacity, Kyiv sharply…
Russian oil terminals ‘legitimate targets’, Kyiv insists
Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, said Russian oil refineries were legitimate targets for its forces.
US wants Ukraine to stop hitting Russian oil refineries
The US has urged Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, warning that drone strikes risk provoking retaliation and driving up global…
EU chiefs fire-up call for renewed nuclear-energy development
Leaders from pro-nuclear European Union countries and energy experts called for a nuclear energy revival at a summit in Brussels, seeking to rebuild the European…
Belgium: What drives the electorate in the South?
In June, Belgium will take part in European Parliament, national and regional elections at the same time, with municipal votes following a few months later.
EU agrees new limits on Ukraine farm imports
The European Union reached a provisional agreement to grant Ukrainian food producers tariff-free access to its markets until June 2025, albeit with new limits on…
EC U-turns on ‘green’ rules after farmers’ protests
Brussels is selling the changes as an attempt to streamline the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) by cutting red tape
Dutch supermarket chain stops promotions on meat, to push ‘protein transition’
Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo will no longer offer promotions on its meat products, to encourage customers to eat "plant-based" food instead.
MEPs back new vehicle brake-emissions rules
MEPs have voted in favour of regulating vehicle-brakes’ environmental emissions as part of a new swathe of “green” transport rules.
EU farmers win MEPs’ backing in Ukraine agri-trade spat
The European Parliament has backed European Union farmers on the sensitive topic of Ukrainian agricultural trade.
Belgium ‘risks becoming Greece on the North Sea’, warns national bank chief
The Governor of the National Bank of Belgium says debt seriously threatens the economy.
Germans ‘may be left in the cold three days a week’, energy titan warns
If German coal plants are closed down, as is required by 2030, the country faces around 100 power cuts of up to 21 hours annually, according to Westenergie, Germany's…
‘Wake up or there’ll be no coffee to smell,’ German trade group warns Brussels
Europe's coffee merchants are sleepwalking into a caffeine crisis, the German Coffee Association (GCA) has warned.
No shift, Sherlock? Well, ECB hints of summer interest-rate cuts as Eastern Europe wields axe
It could be a sunnier summer for the Eurozone after the European Central Bank (ECB) hinted it might finally cut high interest rates that have enriched banks but…
EU CO2 tax may ‘make electricity more expensive and polluting’
A new “green” European Union tax might have some ugly, unintended consequences.
Groundbreaking Dutch CO2 storage-project costs soar
The Dutch Porthos project that aims to capture and store CO2 from industry in empty gasfields beneath the North Sea is proving much more expensive than initially…
Full-fledged American isolationism would be devastating – for its own interests, first and foremost
In his farewell address George Washington urged his compatriots and their descendants to restrict America’s involvement in the world and avoid entangling alliances.
Trump’s ‘nationalism a danger to US’, German Vice Chancellor warns
Former US president Donald Trump's “nationalism” poses a danger to his own country, Germany's Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck claimed.
Polish MP ‘tear-gassed by police’ at farmers’ protest in Warsaw
Sławomir Mentzen MP, a leader of the Polish right-wing Confederation party who was at a farmers’ protest outside the Polish Parliament, accused the police of…
Polish Government claims credit for EC revision of transport deal with Ukraine
Poland’s Government crowed that it persuaded the European Commission to revise a deal on road transport between the European Union and Ukraine, which had prompted…
German travellers left waiting as transport workers walk out
Many thousands of Germans were left facing delays as train drivers, airport-security workers and Lufthansa ground-staff walked off the job, spelling further headaches…
‘EC President cause of economic woes,’ says German finance minister
"It is Ursula von der Leyen's legacy that we have chosen regulation instead of innovation," Lindner told German newspaper Handelsblatt on March 6.
UK non-doms and vapers hit under Hunt’s taxation budget proposals
Britain's finance minister Jeremy Hunt said he would abolish a so-called "non-dom" status that let residents, including those in European Union countries, avoid…
Dutch double-up on nuclear power
The Dutch Parliament passed a move to build four new nuclear-power plants, doubling the planned two major installations originally envisaged.
Is a commitment to climate orthodoxy a prerequisite to working for the European Central Bank? The Frankfurt institution has tied itself in knots over the true meaning of diversity
There are two key kinds of diversity in Western liberal democracies. One visible. and one invisible.
No more pacifism for an EU that gears up for war
The European Commission presented its first industrial defence strategy on March 5, along with a €1.
EU solar panel market showing signs of collapse
EU manufacturers of solar panels are swiftly going out of business, as cheaper Chinese imports outcompete them.