“Check against delivery” President Metsola, Honourable Members,   Europe is in a fight. A fight for a continent that is whole and at peace. For a free and independent Europe. A fight for our values and our democracies. A fight for our liberty and our ability to determine our destiny for ourselves. Make no mistake – this is a fight for our future. I thought long and hard about whether to start this State of the Union address with such a stark appraisal. After all,...

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Rising health expenditures and population ageing prompted many governments to increase social security contribution rates in 2024, reflecting a broader trend towards increasing revenues to strengthen the long-term sustainability of social protection systems, according to a new OECD report. The tenth annual edition of Tax Policy Reforms: OECD and Selected Partner Economies provides a comprehensive overview of tax reform trends, offering cross-country comparisons and tracking policy developments over time. This 2025 edition describes tax reforms implemented in 2024 across 86 jurisdictions, including all OECD...

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The European Commission's 2025 Strategic Foresight Report presents ‘Resilience 2.0', a forward-looking and proactive approach to ensuring the EU thrives in turbulent times, anticipates new challenges and creates a safe space for citizens and business. The report recognises various megatrends: climate and environmental transitions are accelerating, security concerns are rising, and global competition is reshaping economies and societies. At the same time, Europe faces questions on its strategic autonomy, competitiveness, social cohesion and the protection of democracy and fundamental values. The scale and...

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Educational attainment is at an all-time high, with around half (48%) of young adults in OECD countries now completing tertiary education, up from just 27% in 2000. These graduates tend to enjoy higher earnings, more stable employment and better health, according to a new OECD report. Education at a Glance 2025 provides comparable national statistics measuring the state of education worldwide. It shows that, despite overall growth in tertiary attainment, family background continues to strongly influence who pursues higher education. Just...

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NEW YORK—The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today released the August 2025 Survey of Consumer Expectations, which shows that households’ inflation expectations ticked up at the short-term horizon and remained unchanged at the medium- and longer-term horizons. Unemployment and job loss expectations worsened. Job finding expectations declined to a series low. Spending and household income growth expectations remained broadly unchanged. The survey was fielded from August 1 through August 31, 2025. The main findings from...

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Last year, almost 200 million Europeans cast their ballots to elect their representatives in the European Parliament. It was the moment of Europe’s choice. Turnout was the highest it had been in 20 years. This is proof that Europeans care about our Union and expect it to deliver on the challenges ahead. And this is the mission that the new Commission has taken on  – to deliver on our citizens’ expectations and aspirations.  The world around us is more conflictual and competitive than it has...

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