Latest news with #TheEuropeanUnion
Local Sweden
27-04-2025
- Business
- Local Sweden
'Integrate immigrants': How Europe can deal with its population challenge
Europe's population is getting older and its set to shrink in many countries. One of the keys to sustaining societies and economies will be the integration of immigrants into the workforce, the author of a new study tells Claudia Delpero. Advertisement Europe's population is changing The European Union's population is expected to steadily decline from 2026 due to fewer births and immigration no longer compensating for the fall in the birth rate. However there will be major differences across the different parts of Europe, according to a paper published by Bruegel, an economic policy think tank in Brussels. Another key trend in Europe's changing population is that there will be a higher proportion of elderly people in the years to come. 'By 2050, 35 per cent of the EU population is projected to be over 65. This compares to only 21 per cent in 2022, so there is really substantial change coming,' says David Pinkus, Bruegel affiliate fellow and co-author of the research. 'The fastest growing part of the population are those over 85, which brings specific challenges for social policies such as long-term care,' he adds. Four groups of countries In their paper, David Pinkus and Nina Ruer analysed the two main factors of population change in Europe, the difference between the number of births and deaths (natural change) and the difference between the number of people moving to European countries and those leaving (immigration and emigration). They classified EU countries into four groups based on their immigration history. Both Western Europe (including Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Ireland) and Northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden and Finland) switched from emigration to immigration regions in the 1950s. Southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Malta), historically an emigration region, started to experience significant immigration in the 1990s, but faced a new wave of departures around the 2008 financial crisis. Eastern Europe (Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria) was closed to migration during the Cold War, and experienced a major emigration wave since joining the EU. READ ALSO: 'Social glue' - Why it's no surprise European states are toughening language requirements 'At the regional level, natural change is going to be negative in all four country groups, and net migration is set to be positive,' Pinkus told The Local. 'However, in the east and the south the total population change will still be negative. This is due in the east to high negative natural population change and to relatively low net migration… while in the south it's because of very high negative natural population change but also quite strong positive net migration,' he added. The demographic outlook in the east especially is 'concerning', the report says, as 'rapid population decline will most likely cause workforce shortages and economic stagnation' and this will be coupled with 'brain drain and high outward migration of young and skilled individuals'. Advertisement Sweden's population growth On a country level, population is projected to grow by 2050 in Austria, Spain, Sweden, Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, as well as Iceland and Norway. Only Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Cyprus (and outside the EU, Norway and Iceland) are expected to have a natural population growth in the period 2023-2050, while net migration is projected to increase in all countries, except for Latvia, Lithuania and Romania. France and Germany will be close to net zero population growth. All other countries will face population decline. Ageing population The European population is also ageing. The share of people aged 85 and above in the EU will more than double, from the current 3 per cent to 6 per cent by 2050 and nearly 8 per cent by 2070. All EU member states will also experience 'substantial increases' in the percentage of their population aged 65 and above by 2050. 'This is a great achievement but it also brings challenges because a larger share of elderly compared to the workforce means that there will be more people that will need not only pensions but also long-term care services, and a smaller set of people who can potentially provide these services,' Pinkus said. Advertisement Smaller labour force At the same time, 22 out of 27 EU countries will see a decline in their working-age population (20 to 64 years old), the report argues. The under-20 age group will also decline between 2023 and 2050, except in Sweden, Malta and Luxembourg. This could lead to 'imbalances in the labour market' that could be compensated by people working longer, higher participation of women in the work force and more immigration, the report says. Regional disparities within countries are also likely to widen as rural areas will be 'more vulnerable to depopulation' due to 'limited economic and employment opportunities and inadequate access to essential services such as education, childcare and healthcare.' Advertisement Policy changes 'We have written this paper under the assumption that the goal of maintaining the current labour force is a good one and that population decline would be undesirable' because it will make it difficult to maintain the current structures of European economies and societies, Pinkus said. This is also the view of most EU governments and the European Commission, the report says. In this regard, the authors recommend that Western and Northern European countries adopt policies to support the integration of immigrants into the labour force and for rural development. Southern countries should strengthen family-friendly policies and opportunities for young people, as well as improve immigrant integration and regional infrastructure. Eastern countries should focus on retaining talent, attracting immigrants in sectors with labour shortages and ensuring work-life balance to increase the participation of women and older workers in the labour force. Pension reforms and attracting more people in the long-term care sector will also be key, Pinkus says. 'The long-term care sector today largely relies on informal care, which means care inside the family very often provided by women. There needs to be more support for informal carers and it will also be important to reduce the reliance on informal care or, as more people need care, women will be particularly disadvantaged'.
Wall Street Journal
09-04-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
EU Plows Ahead With Retaliatory Tariffs
The European Union is moving ahead with imposing tariffs on a wide range of American products—including chewing gum, motorcycles and peanut butter—in retaliation for U.S. steel and aluminum duties. The tariffs target about 21 billion euros, or roughly $23 billion, of U.S. goods, marking the bloc's first counterstrike against the Trump administration's trade measures. The tariffs, which member states approved Wednesday, will land in three phases. Some are expected to take effect next week, with more in May and December. The EU said they could be suspended at any time if a deal with the U.S. is reached.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Trump Forgets Basic European History in Bizarre Tariff Rant
The European Union graciously offered to negotiate with Donald Trump on tariffs before retaliating, but the U.S. president is too blinded by his own conspiracy to even consider the deal. On Monday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered the United States a 'zero-for-zero tariff' on cars and industrial goods to avoid a trade war, a pretty generous offer given Trump slapped 20 percent tariffs on the EU—and pretty much everywhere else—last week. 'We have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods as we have successfully done with many other trading partners. Because Europe is always ready for a good deal. So we keep it on the table,' von der Leyen said in a statement. Trump, however, told reporters Monday afternoon that the deal isn't enough. 'The EU has been very tough over the years, I always say it was formed to really do damage to the United States and trade,' Trump said. 'That's the reason it was formed.' In case you forgot, the EU was not, in fact, formed to screw the United States but to foster peace and cooperation among European countries post-World War II. It was founded in 1992 and is made up of 27 countries and seven major institutions that manage a common budget, facilitate trade, and make laws. The president continued his rewrite of European history, claiming the EU was formed solely 'to create a unified force against the United States for trade.' He added that the union has used NATO—an alliance that the United States is a part of—to take advantage of the United States. The outlandish rant is Trump's way of saying, no, he won't accept von der Leyen's deal. It's a refusal that will likely result in further retaliatory tariffs on the United States as an economic recession looms.
Wall Street Journal
06-04-2025
- Automotive
- Wall Street Journal
Europe Is Prepared to Retaliate but Prefers to Negotiate, Says German Diplomat
The European Union is prepared to retaliate against the 20% tariff that its faces from the U.S. if a compromised settlement can't be reached, Miguel Berger, Germany's ambassador to the U.K., said in an interview with Sky News on Sunday. Berger described the planned tariffs as 'the biggest assault we have seen since the end of the second world war on global trade' but said that negotiation is preferable to the riskier strategy of initiating a trade war. Take Germany's key auto sector. The country is a large exporter of cars, among other goods, to the U.S.. But at the same time BMW, the German luxury carmarker, is among the largest auto exporters in the U.S.
Bloomberg
04-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
EU Begins US Tariff Talks While Accepting End of Old World Order
The European Union is realistic about what near-term deliverables the bloc's chief trade negotiator, Maros Sefcovic , can attain when he begins talks with his US counterparts on Friday about President Donald Trump 's far-reaching tariffs. The Europeans will aim to salvage as much as possible of the transatlantic relationship and the existing economic order, according to people familiar with the bloc's thinking. But they have no expectations of returning to the previous status quo.
