Russia’s turning off of natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria on 26 April marks a serious escalation in the Russian attempt to weaponise energy against Europe. Further interruptions could follow. In readiness, European governments must accelerate their...
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Cutting Putin’s energy rent: ‘smart sanctioning’ Russian oil and gas
In the wake of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, major sanctions have been imposed by Western countries, most notably with the aim of limiting Russia’s access to hard international currency. However, Russia remains the world’s first exporter of oil and gas, and...
Green public procurement: A neglected tool in the European Green Deal toolbox?
Read the full piece as published on Intereconomics. Public procurement amounts to around 14% of European Union GDP and, given this size, could well represent an important tool to foster the green transition. However, green public procurement continues to be...
Repurposing the peace dividend
This opinion was originally published in Money Review. The war in Ukraine has brought an end to a 60-year period in which Europe has enjoyed a peace dividend, an amount released by reducing defence expenditure to be invested in beneficial economic activities. But it...
Owning up to sustainability risks: the EU should champion international standards
The publication in late March of proposals by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) put the European Union’s own agenda on corporate disclosures under the spotlight once again. The ISSB is part of the international accounting body IFRS (International...
War in Ukraine: What is the effect on Central and Eastern Europe?
In this episode of the Sound of Economics Live, Bruegel Director Guntram Wolff hosted Beata Javorcik, Chief Economist of the EBRD, to discuss how the ongoing war in Ukraine is affecting Central and Eastern Europe. Drawing on the EBRD’s recent activity in Ukraine and...
China’s Covid policy to be year’s largest economic shock
Read the full opinion published in Asia Times.
The low productivity of European firms: how can policies enhance the allocation of resources?
This Working Paper is an output from the MICROPROD project, which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 822390. This paper summarises the most important policy lessons from the research...
Climate migration: what do we really know?
How can climate change affect migration? Migration comes in many forms – temporary or permanent, local, rural-urban or international, forced or voluntary – and happens for many reasons – economic or political, or because people are fleeing from acute violence or...
War in Ukraine: sanctions on Russia two months in
As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues, Giuseppe Porcaro is joined by Nicolas Véron and Elina Ribakova to take look at the list of sanctions imposed on Russia so far and the implications on the global financial system and central banks. Check our special podcast series,...
A sanctions counter measure: gas payments to Russia in rubles
Russia’s Gazprombank has so far not been sanctioned by the European Union in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Gazprombank handles payments made by European gas importers, who would not be able to make euro (or dollar) payments for gas if it were sanctioned....
The European Union should sanction Sberbank and other Russian banks
The swift early European Union response to Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine was designed to disrupt Russia’s financial system and economy. Ending EU imports of Russian hydrocarbons would be a most powerful next step, and is an absolute priority. But other...