Italy battles for flexible EU budget rules as bond spreads widen
Italy is lobbying its European Union partners with increasing urgency to approve more flexible budget rules, according to government sources, as bond spreads widen…
Economy
Latest reporting and analysis on economy.
ANALYSIS: Strained France-Germany ties slow EU decision making
The sight of French President Emmanuel Macron and his cabinet drinking beers on a boat with their German counterparts in Hamburg this week will project an image…
Oil jumps, stocks drop on Middle East conflict: markets wrap
Oil surged more than five per cent and investors sought safety in gold, bonds and the dollar after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel sparked fears of a wider…
Most EU Member States not on target to reach Paris Agreement goals, says WWF
Seventeen European Union Member States are not putting enough wind farms in place to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement, nature conservation organisation World…
Germany to fire up ‘brown coal’ power plants over energy shortage fears
Germany will reactivate a number of its "brown coal" power plants in the hopes of staving off winter energy shortages, media in the country is reporting.
EU debt now Euro 344 billion: auditors
In its latest report, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) said that errors in the spending of funds taken from the European Union budget "increased significantly…
Poland’s economy has been a remarkable and underreported success story over the last 30 years – now both main parties appear ready to squander it
The economy is the big absentee from the Polish election campaign.
Pope Francis’s Laudate Deum is a political exhortation, not a religious treatise
Eight years after the encyclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis published another document, called an apostolic exhortation, to say what has been done - and what has not…
NATO urges arms production boost as warehouses ‘half full’
The arms industry needs to ramp up weapons and ammunition production as "the bottom of the barrel is now visible" due to the war in Ukraine, NATO Military Committee…
EU Formally Opens Anti-Subsidies Probe Into EVs Made in China
The European Union has formally launched an anti-subsidies probe into electric vehicles manufactured in China, setting in motion a one-year investigation that could…
Mr U-turn: Climate Commissioner hopeful Hoekstra becomes a born-again environmentalist
The Dutch Candidate for EU Climate Commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, performed a series of U-turns on October 2 as he auditioned for the job in front of Euro MPs.
Portugal joining the euro was a mistake, MEP says
Portugal's decision to adopt the euro was the "wrong step", a left-wing MEP has said.
Incoming EU carbon tax will raise cost of a car by €580
A new European Union carbon border tax starting its trial period in the week beginning October 1 and will raise the price of an average car by almost €600, said…
European spirits sector wants EU to support growth outside continent
On September 26, the European spirits sector held its trade review for 2023.
Brussels bites with €32m fine for UK over cut-price boat fuel
The UK has been hit with a €32 million (£28m) fine by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over dragging its heels on implementing a ban in Northern Ireland of…
Inside the EU wallet: Which nations foot the bill and which benefit?
The Cologne Institute for Economic Research has published figures revealing how much cash Member States gave to or received from the European Union in 2022.
Eurozone core inflation hits 1-year low, backing ECB pause
Euro-area core inflation eased to its slowest pace in a year, supporting expectations that the European Central Bank will keep interest rates on hold to gauge the…
Less is not always more – especially if driven by EU policy
“Less is more,” goes the old adage.
Macron bypasses parliament vote on budget with maligned tool
French President Emmanuel Macron is bypassing parliament votes to push ahead with his plans to cut debt, boost green and defence spending, and secure access to billions…
Meloni has a plan which may both develop Africa and supply Europe with abundant clean energy
Agreements between national oil companies rarely change the world.
Poland signs deal with US for first Polish nuclear power plant
Polish and US dignitaries have signed off on the construction of Poland's first nuclear power plant as part of the country’s gradual move away from fossil fuels.
ANALYSIS-Wind power industry drifts off course
A perfect storm of supply chain delays, design flaws and higher costs in the offshore wind industry has put dozens of projects at risk of not being delivered in…
Portuguese youths launch climate-change case in European Court of Human Rights
Six Portuguese young people have launched a case at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) demanding 32 European nations take action against climate change.
Nature magazine study predicts catastrophic consequences of ‘degrowth’ policy
The British scientific journal Nature has published a study that forecasts the potentially devastating effects of the so-called “degrowth” economic model.
Swiss to sell back Leopard II tanks to help Germany restock after Ukraine donations
Germany has welcomed a decision by neutral Switzerland to open the way to sell back some of its German-made Leopard II tanks to help rebuild stocks depleted by aid…
German labour market shows signs of cracking as economy struggles
German companies are thinking twice about hiring staff amid an increasingly uncertain economic environment, according to a study by the Ifo Institute.
Perhaps now isn’t the time to be waving the trade war sabre: China, EV subsidies and property market travails
The visit of Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s Trade Commissioner, to China and Beijing this week couldn’t come at a worse time for his hosts.
Von der Leyen says EC ‘willing to consider state aid’ for nuclear technology
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a case for subsidising nuclear technology at the Green Deal Summit in Prague on September 26.
‘EU must choose between cheaper power or protecting wind industry’
Europe will have to decide whether it wants to reduce electricity prices or protect its wind turbine manufacturers from low-cost Chinese competitors, said the boss…
‘Lose the moral superiority complex’, German Greens minister tells climate activists
Climate activists need to drop their moral superiority complex if they hope to win over the average voter, a senior German Greens party minister has said.