Recent years have seen growing interest in differences between labour and capital income taxation. New stylised effective tax rates show that governments almost always tax the capital income individuals receive more favourably than wage income. But that is only part of the story, because governments also usually tax labour and capital income at the firm level. After accounting for firm-level taxes, capital is still taxed more favourably than labour in many OECD countries, but in others, the reverse is true. Interest...

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Blog post by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the EU has imposed 11 rounds of ever-tighter sanctions against Russia. Some people claim these sanctions have not worked. This is simply not true. Within a year, they have already limited Moscow’s options considerably causing financial strain, cutting the country from key markets and significantly degrading Russia’s industrial and...

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The European Investment Bank (EIB) has published the results of a survey on the investment levels in CEE companies — “Business Model Update: Are CEE Companies Investing Enough?”. The analysis was published as part of the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) Report, which is to be presented at the Economic Forum in Karpacz (5 to 7 September 2023). The findings show that investment activity is recovering after the crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Companies are...

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Growing trade restrictions may reverse economic integration and undermine the cooperation needed to protect against new shocks and address global challenges. In a shock-prone world, economies must be more resilient—individually and collectively. Cooperation is critical, but greater protectionism could lead to fragmentation, and even split nations into rival blocs just as fresh shocks expose the global economy's fragility. While estimates of the cost of fragmentation vary, greater international trade restrictions could reduce global economic output by as much as 7 percent...

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The European Commission adopted today the rules governing the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) during its transitional phase, which starts on 1 October of this year and runs until the end of 2025. The Implementing Regulation published today details the transitional reporting obligations for EU importers of CBAM goods, as well as the transitional methodology for calculating embedded emissions released during the production process of CBAM goods. In the CBAM's transitional phase, traders will only have to report...

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A new law to ensure that batteries are collected, reused and recycled in Europe is entering into force today. The new Batteries Regulation will ensure that, in the future, batteries have a low carbon footprint, use minimal harmful substances, need less raw materials from non-EU countries, and are collected, reused and recycled to a high degree in Europe. This will support the shift to a circular economy, increase security of supply for raw materials and energy, and enhance the EU’s strategic...

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial markets regulator and supervisor, and national competent authorities (NCAs) completed an analysis of the cross-border provision of investment services during 2022. The increase in the cross-border provision of financial services has benefits for consumers and firms, as it fosters competition, expands the offer available to consumers and the market for firms. However, it also requires that NCAs intensify their efforts and focus more on the supervision of cross-border activities and...

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In 2013, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) established the Official Sector Steering Group (OSSG) with the view of promoting the effective collaboration of the global official sector towards the end goal of successful transition to robust benchmarks, including the transition away from LIBOR. After a decade of preparation, the LIBOR transition has entered its final stage. The end of June 2023 marked the final major milestone in the LIBOR transition with the end of the remaining USD LIBOR panel. Only...

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The Council has today approved the regulation to strengthen Europe's semiconductor ecosystem, better known as the 'Chips Act'. This is the last step in the decision-making procedure. The Chips Act aims to create the conditions for the development of a European industrial base in the field of semiconductors, attract investment, promote research and innovation and prepare Europe for any future chip supply crisis. The programme should mobilise €43 billion in public and private investment (€3.3 billion from the EU budget),...

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Higher interest rates soon would prevent more economic pain later The European Central Bank could prevent inflation expectations from becoming unmoored and drifting upwards by continuing to raise its policy rate, as discussed in our recent report on the euro area. A further tightening of monetary policy in the near term would prevent much more costly measures later to bring inflation back to target. As the Chart of the Week shows, the ECB Governing Council has raised its deposit-facility rate...

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