Blog posts tagged by tag: European Union

• Bounty or burden? The impact of refugees on European economies is far from clear

  Avindar Mohamad was 18 years old when he was forced to flee with his family from his hometown of Aleppo after the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011. Until then, he had led a relatively comfortable life: His father worked as a baker, and his mother had a job at a large pharmaceutical company. When the conflict started, his father flew ahead to Denmark, while Avindar sought refuge in neighboring Lebanon along with his mother and two sisters. It was only several months later that the family finally found itself together again, this time on Danish soil, under Denmark’s family reunification program.

  In recent years, the number of people like Avindar seeking asylum in the European Union has skyrocketed, from around 200,000 in 2006 to around 1.3 million in both 2015 and 2016 according to Eurostat figures. The continent has witnessed one of the largest forced migrations since World War II, as civil war in Syria and Iraq and instability in Afghanistan have led to a wave of refugees moving westwards in search of safety. Unlike Avindar and his family, many have been forced to make the journey on foot. The potential effect of this surge in refugees on the economies of European countries is still very much up in the air, with a multitude of factors at work.

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  Tags: European Union

• Is the UK really "shackled to a corpse"?

  Over the last year and change, the economic outlook for the Eurozone has improved dramatically while in that same time the UK economic outlook has left much to be desired.

  A little over a year ago, Brexit campaigners proclaimed that if the UK did not leave the European Union it would be "shackled to a corpse." A year on from the Brexit-vote and that looks far from the truth as the health of the Eurozone economy looks better than it has in some time. Read our latest economic outlooks for the UK and the Eurozone below.

  

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  Tags: European Union, Infographic

• Spain: The economy that continues to silence the critics

  One of the original PIGS, the Spanish economy continues to silence its critics, growing quarter after quarter. And in what is starting to become familiar territory for the Southern European country, the economy started 2017 off with a bang, dispelling fears of an abrupt slowdown in economic activity that some had expected due to the fading of several tailwinds. 

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  Tags: Economic Growth (GDP), European Union, Spain

• Brexit negotiations. Between Uncertainty and Urgency

  ”If I cannot have you the way I want you, I do not want you at all” Dr. Feelgood

  Brexit has been launched. Mainstream consensus is going through the typical phases of anger (“this cannot be”), shock (“only uneducated, old, and fascists have voted exit”), denial (“it will be stopped by parliament or the commons”) and now we approach, slowly, to the phase of acceptance.

  And there it is: Article 50.

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  Tags: European Union

• An Economic History of the EU from El Blog Salmón

  *Guest blog post from El Blog Salmón

  60 years ago the seed of the European Union was sown, these are the economic milestones that have taken place since…

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  Tags: European Union

• What economy will the new Dutch government inherit?

  Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s liberal VVD party has won again despite losing seats, keeping the far right in a largely ineffectual position. The Netherlands is one of Europe’s best performing economies, which surely helped see reason ultimately triumph over populism after a campaign dominated by much political noise from Geert Wilders’ anti-immigration party. And yet voters still punished the outgoing coalition heavily. Rutte’s party lost about a quarter of its support and its traditional coalition partner all but collapsed, with the Green-Left party making substantial gains to emerge as an unexpected victor of the night and a potential kingmaker in coalition negotiations. On the face of it the Dutch economy is doing remarkably well, yet voters were clearly not entirely happy with the political status quo. While the Liberals do battle behind the scenes to form a working majority in the fragmented Dutch parliament, we take a look at the economic situation that the new government will inherit.

  

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  Tags: Euro Area, European Union, Infographic

• 4 Key European Elections That Will Impact the Economy in 2017

  After a year characterized by Brexit, a migrant crisis, populist movements and the election of Donald Trump, uncertainty in the European Union economy is high.  While economic data has remained resilient thus far, politics will likely stay in the spotlight this year and threaten confidence as a number of high profile economies hold elections, including France, Germany, The Netherlands and Italy. In a context of waning support for the status quo and recent election polls failing to predict results, Senior Economist Angela Bouzanis takes a look at the upcoming votes we are keeping an eye on and why.

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  Tags: European Union, France, Germany, Italy

• Italy referendum: 'No' vote to boost populist sentiment and lead to the demise of the Eurozone?

  Italy's and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s constitutional referendum was met with a resounding ‘no’ on Sunday.

  The referendum was aimed at greatly simplifying the currently cumbersome relationship between the two chambers of Italian parliament to ultimately create a more efficient decision-making system and boost competitiveness. However, Beppe Grillo and his populist anti-EU Five Star Movement, was critical in delivering the ‘no’ vote, which highlights the continent’s rising tide of populism.

  The outcome of the referendum marked the beginning of a very important year for the European Union and could, in the very worst case scenario, lead to the demise of the common currency bloc.

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  Tags: European Union, Italy

• A Look at the European Union Political Calendar

  The European Union is facing an unprecedented amount of uncertainty. Brexit, a migrant crisis, elevated security concerns, a slowdown in China and unpredictable elections in the United States are all threatening the Union’s economic and political outlook. On top of this, members within the Union are facing a jam-packed election cycle. In a context of waning support for the status quo, this could lead to shifts in the balance of power. Senior Economist Angela Bouzanis takes a look at the upcoming votes we are keeping an eye on and why.

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  Tags: European Union, Italy, Spain

• Eurozone Slowdown Highly Likely in the Wake of Brexit

  It’s been a little over a month since the UK voted to leave the European Union in one of the biggest and most unexpected political events to happen since the turn of the century and arguably going back even farther than that. Apart from the political shakeup this has caused, the impact of the Brexit has far reaching economic consequences as well. We here at FocusEconomics, needless to say, have been working tirelessly to bring you forecasts and analysis for the UK economy and the rest of the world since the unprecedented Brexit vote.

  In the immediate aftermath of the vote we came out with new post-Brexit forecasts and analysis for the UK economy and a few weeks later we had a revised set of forecasts for the UK. Subsequently, we updated or forecasts and analysis with Brexit in mind for Latin America, the ASEAN region, East & South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

  Finally, without further ado, we have the all-important post-Brexit forecasts and outlook for the Eurozone economy. In the following post we present you with our updated forecasts and analysis for the Eurozone along with comments and individual forecasts from the likes of Danske Bank and BNP Paribas. We also have additional analysis on the Euro Area and our Global Economic Outlook, in case you’re interested in further reading.   

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  Tags: Brexit, European Union, UK

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