Regular harmonised surveys are conducted by the European Commission's Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN) for different sectors of the economies in the European Union (EU) and in the applicant countries. May 2022: Economic Sentiment slightly down in the EU, broadly stable in the euro area; Employment Expectations mildly up in both regions In May 2022, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) decreased slightly in the EU (-0.5 points to 104.1), while it stayed broadly unchanged in the euro...

On the first day of the special European Council taking place on 30-31 May, EU leaders agreed on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, that includes a ban on crude oil and petroleum products, with a temporary exception for crude oil delivered by pipeline. President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the agreement, calling it an important step forward. She also recalled other restrictive measures that this package of sanctions includes, such as de-SWIFTing Sberbank, by far...

On the first day of the summit, the European Council adopted conclusions on Ukraine. The leaders were joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy via video conference for a discussion at the beginning of the summit. European Council conclusions on Ukraine, 30 May 2022 Remarks by President Charles Michel following the first day of the special meeting of the European Council, 30 May 2022 On the second day of the summit, EU leaders will discuss energy, defence and food security. Invitation...

On 25 May 2022, the European Commission is proposing to add the violation of EU restrictive measures to the list of EU crimes. The Commission is also proposing new reinforced rules on asset recovery and confiscation, which will also contribute to the implementation of EU restrictive measures. While the Russian aggression on Ukraine is ongoing, it is paramount that EU restrictive measures are fully implemented and the violation of those measures must not be allowed to pay off. Today's...

Effective tax rates on labour rebounded in 2021 as the global economy recovered and many countries began withdrawing or scaling back measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new OECD report. Taxing Wages 2022 shows that rising household incomes in 2021 coupled with the reversal of many tax and benefit policies linked to the pandemic drove increases in effective taxes on wages across the OECD. This marks a turn-around from 2020, when the pandemic drove significant...

It’s FTC 101. Companies can’t tell consumers they will use their personal information for one purpose and then use it for another. But according to the FTC, that’s the kind of digital bait-and-switch Twitter pulled on unsuspecting consumers. Twitter asked users for personal information for the express purpose of securing their accounts, but then also used it to serve targeted ads for Twitter’s financial benefit. It wasn’t Twitter’s first alleged violation of the FTC Act, but this one will...

Today, the Commission is presenting the State of Schengen Report 2022. This is the first time the Commission is presenting such report, following last year's Schengen Strategy. This report  is part of the Commission's initiative to reinforce the Schengen governance through a yearly reporting exercise presenting the state of Schengen, identifying priorities for the year ahead and monitoring progress made at the end of a given year. The State of Schengen report will serve as basis for discussions of...

Economists miscalculated the disruptions of the global financial crisis and the pandemic—and need to build better models Does globalization enhance resilience? Or does it have no effect? Or the opposite effect? For the two major economic disruptions so far this century—the global financial crisis starting in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020—economists’ answers to those questions were largely wrong. As for the financial crisis, most of them underestimated the risks of financial globalization, and when it came to the...