By Christian Egenhofer, Jorge Núñez Ferrer, and Irina Kustova, courtesy of the Center for European Policy Studies The economic slow-down caused by the pandemic will aggravate the existing stress in some regions, especially those relying on lignite, coal and peat as their main economic activity. But efficient and effective use of COVID-19 recovery funds […]
Tag: EC
The Great EU Airline Refund Scam
By Bill Wirtz, courtesy of the Austrian Economics Center At first 12, now 16 EU member states are looking to overturn rules requiring airlines to refund passengers with cash payments if their flight had been cancelled as a result of COVID-19 travel restrictions. The companies have been lobbying the European Council to disable […]
Say no to EU carbon border tax
“A European carbon border tax: much pain, little gain” By Ben McWilliams and Georg Zachmann, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute The European Green Deal has set a target of reducing European Union carbon emissions by about 40 per cent over the next ten years. Reaching this target is likely to involve a significant […]
A European Minimum Wage Is the Next Bad Idea from Brussels
By Bill Wirtz, courtesy of the Austrian Economics Center The incoming European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs has only about one thing in common with yours truly: he’s Luxembourgish. Nicolas Schmit is a lifelong socialist and has been Minister of Labor in Luxembourg for as far as I can remember. Bureaucrat-made-politician, Schmit […]
The European Green Deal Is Every Bit as Bad as Expected
By Bill Wirtz, courtesy of the Austrian Economics Center The European Commission has unveiled its “European Green Deal,” after taking hints on denomination from its American counterpart, the “Green New Deal.” While the legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress remains fiction under a Republican executive and Senate, the Brussels initiative will become law unless […]
UK election: after Conservative sweep, what’s next for Brexit and beyond?
“What does the Conservative election victory mean for Brexit?” By Dominic Walsh and Stephen Booth, courtesy of Open Europe Boris Johnson’s Conservatives secured a comfortable parliamentary majority in yesterday’s general election. With just one seat left to declare, the Conservatives have 364 seats – a majority of 78. Labour have won just 203 […]
She’s baaaack: Vestager returns, more powerful than ever
Executives at Facebook, Google, Apple and other Big Tech firms would probably be happy to never again hear the name of Margrethe Vestager, the Danish competition supremo at the European Commission, who won fame (or infamy, depending on your point of view) as the […]