New Eurostat’s data has shown that deficit in international trade in goods for the euro area reached €30.6 bn by the start of 2023, with the total deficit of €34.6 bn for the whole EU-27.
Category: Baltic States’ issues
Competitiveness globally and in the EU: recent accounts
Present geopolitical uncertainties and the post-pandemic consequences (coped with global challenges) greatly affected supply chains and made it more difficult for states to remain competitive. Besides the EU governance’s efforts in recovery and resilience, attention to new efforts in competitiveness has gained momentum: e.g. through the corporate entities’ facilitating diversification of supply chain and other […]
Mental health in the world and in Europe
The world is grappling with a mental health crisis: e.g. in Europe, antidepressant consumption has more than doubled during last twenty years. According to recent OECD report, this dramatic increase in consumption of antidepressant drugs, AD – at least in the EU – is mainly due to recent pandemic. However, it is still unclear whether […]
Tackling modern European energy policy challenges
Deep changes in Europe and the world, which have generated growing tensions in politics and economics, need scientists’ closer attention. The real challenge is to understand the core and essence of these changes so that national governance can manage them for the common good. Such an understanding is also required in analysing the urgent issues […]
Global and European sustainability: examples for the SDG-community
Sustainability issues, both public and corporate, have been hot topics at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. Hence, it is vital not only mentioning companies that are the world’s most sustainable, but to underline necessity in preparing skills and professions required for sustainability and socio-economic transition. Besides, some examples from the Baltic Sea region […]
The ERC’s agenda and the EU research and innovation perspectives
According to the President of the European Research Council (ERC) Maria Leptin, expressed recently in the Robert Foundation’s policy paper, the EU is able to “produce the cutting-edge knowledge needed for economies on the technological frontier to grow further and for Europe to remain a leader at global level”. However, numerous barriers are on the […]
The EU Modernisation Fund’s disbursements: supporting “green deal”
In its second year of operation, the European “modernisation fund” has disbursed over €4 billion in support of 61 projects in eight beneficiary countries. During summer 2022, about €2.4 billion was already disbursed to support 45 investment proposals; it is now complemented by another €1.71 billion disbursement to support another 16 investment projects into sustainable […]
New efforts in the European energy supply and security
Joint gas purchasing under the EU Energy Platform has been supported by a regulation which the EU-27 energy ministers adopted on December 19, 2022 to provide a necessary legal basis. It is another vital step in preparation for next winter; the EU institutions have made extensive efforts during 2022 to reduce Russian gas supply: the […]
European energy market: recent transformations
Gas pipeline supplies to the EU states this winter from Russia have been reduced by 80 percent (compared to the last year); it was acknowledged by the European Commission. Transformed gas supply distribution has invoked unprecedented pressure on the global energy markets, with severe knock-on effects on Europe’s energy system. The EU institutions have introduced […]
EU-wide education area for 2025: ongoing initiatives and trends
The Commission approved a report on progress towards the achievement of the European Education Area by 2025; the report takes analyses the ongoing initiatives and trends on progress to attain EU-level targets in education and training. The progress report is assisted by the Education & Training Monitor with the EU-wide analysis of education and training […]