A leaked draft version of the European Commission’s renewable energy directive has received loud criticism from the renewables industry and NGOs. They claim the proposal is lacking ambition and that it must be in line with EU’s new climate goals. The proposal is due to be adopted in
Minimum wages are a make-or-break issue against in-work poverty and an important element of a single labor market. But instead of setting a mandatory pan-European minimum wage, the EU is striving for strengthening collective bargaining across member states against the will of multinational corporations in whose interests it is to
On Tuesday, Hungary’s parliament passed a so-called pedophile law, which critics say is actually directed at the LGBT community and also restricts freedom of expression. Introduced by the ruling Fidesz party which has a two-thirds majority in parliament, the legislation includes a public register of convicted sex offenders and
In the final days of the Portuguese EU presidency, transport ministers agreed with members of the European Parliament revisions to Eurovignette, the rules on road charging to reduce emissions of polluting gases and infrastructure congestion. Portugal’s minister of infrastructure and housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, stated that the agreement “with
On Tuesday at the EU Summit, EU leaders and US president Joe Biden struck a conciliatory tone and made efforts toward ending disagreements on trade, including a dispute concerning aircraft subsidies that has dragged on for 17 years. The two sides also agreed to remove USD 11.5 billion in
As its first attempt to test financial markets, the European Commission on Tuesday announced it had raised EUR 20 billion in 10-year bonds successfully. The EU wants to finance the EU27’s COVID-19 crisis recovery. Speaking to the press, EC president Ursula von der Leyen said that the inaugural transaction
Few would call Europe a continent of extremes – yet wage differences are sometimes severe: in South-Eastern-Europe, in countries outside of the European Union, there are still some places where hourly wages are under EUR 2. Meanwhile, EU member states like Croatia and Slovenia offer much better pay, the latter being
China poses security challenges to NATO, which will engage the country to address them, according to an official statement from the organization following US president Joe Biden’s first NATO summit as president on 14 June. The Atlantic defense alliance also recognized Beijing’s nuclear military buildup as a threat.
Global warming will not only wreak havoc on the global economy but could also result in dire economic consequences for Hungary and other countries in Central & Eastern Europe. G7 economies, for example, could lose USD 5 trillion a year, or 8.5% of their GDP by 2050, if global
Poised to take the presidency of the European Council on 1 July, Slovenia will prioritize regulation of the digital agenda in its 6-month stint, according to Iztok Jarc, Slovenian ambassador to the EU. In regards to the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act, Jarc said Slovenia will
Shortly following the monumental changes to their governmental systems and economies, countries in Central & Eastern Europe did see their wages grow steadily – but over 30 years later it is apparent that average employee pay in the region can still be even half of that seen in the West of
Romania’s economy will grow by 6% this year, fully reversing the 3.9% contraction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic last year, according to an updated Global Economic Prospects published by the World Bank. The global outlook remains subject to significant downside risks, including the possibility of additional COVID-19 waves
The United States has imposed sanctions on three Bulgarians and 64 companies linked to them, over their alleged corrupt activities. The three businessmen are former lawmaker and media mogul Delyan Peevski, government official Ilko Zhelyazkov and fugitive gambling tycoon Vassil Bozhko. Those blacklisted are banned from the US financial system,
A key element of the “Green Deal,” on 10 June EU environmental ministers meeting for the last occasion of Portugal’s EU presidency approved a strategy for adaptation to climate change. Some of the aims of the adaptation strategy, according to Portugal’s minister of environment and climate action, João
Poland says that closing down its open-pit brown coal mine in Turow would be an “energy disaster.” Even so, the European Commission is lining up behind the Czech Republic in an ongoing fight with its neighbor against the expansion of the mine, which is run by Poland’s state-run company