BRICS Summit: Russia’s Strategic Delusion

Photo by Alexey Ruban on Unsplash

  The BRICS summit, which kicked off on October 22 in Kazan Russia, has been labelled a Russian project, but its reality is more complex. While Russia leverages the BRICS bloc to project itself as a global power and counter Western sanctions, the organisation is struggling with internal contradictions and inefficiencies. Established as an alternative…

Europe’s Economy Lagging Behind

Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash

    Photo by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash The body representing small businesses at EU level says Europe’s economy is lagging behind. SMEunited has now called for action to help address the issue and for concrete actions at all levels to improve SME competitiveness. This comes after EU heads of State and Government recently pledged…

Brewing Nourishes the European Economy

patrycja-jadach on unsplash.com

  Photo by Patrycia Jadach on Unsplash.com   The beer sector helps drive the European economy, according to a new report by Europe Economics. The report, published on 16 October, says the sector creates millions of jobs and billions in government tax revenues.  Despite ongoing repercussions from the pandemic closures in the hospitality sector and…

Andrew Watt to Head ETUC

Photo by Timothy Hales Bennett on Unsplash

  Photo by Timothy Hales Bennett on Unsplash   A top economist has returned to Brussels to take up a new post. Andrew Watt has officially taken up his new post as General Director of European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). Watt is an advisor to numerous bodies including the European Commission and the European Economic…

Opportunities for Spanish Business in Reconstruction of Ukraine

AER

The Assembly of the European Regions (AER), the Centre for International Studies (CEI) and Ágora Diplomática have organized a conference entitled “Interregional economic cooperation as a driving force for the reconstruction and economic growth of Ukraine”, with the presence of senior representatives of the Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Sumy and the cities of Kharkiv…

Morocco’s Atlantic Initiative for Sahel

Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, highlighted, in the United Nations in New York, an Atlantic Initiative for Sahel, during a ministerial meeting chaired by US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. Launched in 2022 under Rabat’s Atlantic African States Process, by King Mohammed VI of Morocco, this strategy is…

Stop Single Use Plastic Packaging

A large group of European NGO representatives, members of the Break Free From Plastic movement and Zero Waste Europe network, displayed a large Pinocchio figure in front of the European Commission building in Brussels.   They say the action on 24 September “illustrates how big consumer brands and supermarkets, with Member states’ leniency, are holding…

Draghi Presents Report to Parliament

Photo by Ben Morris on Unsplash

  Photo by Ben Morris on Unsplash   Former Italian PM Mario Draghi has outlined his ambitious blueprint for improving Europe’s competitiveness through closer cooperation in core areas and massive investment in shared objectives. Draghi is the author of a major report on European competitiveness commissioned by Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the…

Global Food Crisis

Photo by Raphael Rychetsky on Unsplash

  Photo by Raphael Rychetsky on Unsplash   The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to rising world prices and hunger. Russian aggression against Ukraine has jeopardised not only Ukrainian territory and its citizens but also global food security. According to the United Nations, around 828 million people suffer from malnutrition, and Russia’s actions are…