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3 weeks ago | 
bruegel.org | Rebecca Christie |Conall Heussaff |Georg Zachmann |Heather Grabbe
The European Union Nature Restoration Law (NRL) entered into force in 2024. The NRL sets quantitative restoration targets aimed at improving natural habitats that are currently in poor condition, with substantial leeway for countries to choose implementation pathways that fit their priorities. This Working Paper examines three pathways: (1) evenly spreading restoration efforts across all ecosystems; (2) prioritising cost-efficiency; and (3) maximising carbon sequestration.
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1 month ago | 
bruegel.org | Ben McWilliams |Georg Zachmann |Rebecca Christie |Conall Heussaff
To a great extent, mystery still surrounds the highly disruptive and damaging 28 April power blackout on the Iberian peninsula. Information about the sequence of events that resulted in the blackout is emerging only slowly. Some data circulated early on was likely wrong (such as Spanish electricity generation data). And media overstated quotes from senior government officials and network companies.
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Mar 17, 2025 | 
bruegel.org | Rebecca Christie |Georg Zachmann |Simone Tagliapietra |Alexander Roth
In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie discusses Ireland's economy with Eamon Gilmore, former Foreign Minister, and Patrick Honohan, former Governor of the Irish Central Bank. They explore Ireland’s recovery from the global financial crisis and current political outlook, alongside issues such as public debt, low interest rates, and rebuilding national confidence.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
bruegel.org | Georg Zachmann |Ben McWilliams |Ugnė Keliauskaitė |Giovanni Sgaravatti
Electrification is at the heart of the EU’s agenda as it works towards deep decarbonisation and economic competitiveness. However, electricity demand has remained stagnant, representing less than a quarter of final energy demand. To meet ambitious goals, the EU must electrify sectors like transport, heating, and industry. Key policies are under discussion, including the Electrification Action Plan and the proposed Electrification Bank to support industrial projects.
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Dec 5, 2024 | 
bruegel.org | Georg Zachmann |Jean Pisani-Ferry |Simone Tagliapietra
Join us for an event exploring how the circular economy can drive Europe’s competitiveness and economic security. The event will feature a presentation of the recent Bruegel paper A European circular single market for economic security and competitiveness, by Heather Grabbe, one of the authors. The paper argues that the circular economy would be a fast, secure and cost-effective route to achieving the EU’s goals of economic security and strategic autonomy.
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Dec 5, 2024 | 
bruegel.org | Georg Zachmann |Simone Tagliapietra |Ben McWilliams |Ugnė Keliauskaitė
The international process for coordinating the fight against global warming is in trouble. The United States is likely to withdraw again from the Paris Agreement on climate change, pushing multilateralism and the rules-based order deeper into crisis. Global emissions continue to rise. Developed countries are more directly feeling the short-term cost of decarbonisation policies. The main hope remains technology that cuts the cost of decarbonisation, making compromise easier.
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Nov 25, 2024 | 
bruegel.org | Georg Zachmann |Ben McWilliams |Ugnė Keliauskaitė |Giovanni Sgaravatti
The author is grateful for earlier comments on this draft to Ignacio Garcia Bercero, Stephen Gardner, Conall Heussaff,Philipp Jäger, Ben McWilliams, Lucio Pench, Simone Tagliapietra, Pierre Wunsch and Georg Zachmann. One consequence of a major reform of the European Union’s emissions trading system in 2023 is that energy-intensive industries (EIIs) will ultimately be exposed fully to carbon pricing.
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Oct 17, 2024 | 
bruegel.org | Ugnė Keliauskaitė |Georg Zachmann |Ben McWilliams |Giovanni Sgaravatti
On 1 January 2025, a major contract governing the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine will end, with significant implications for remaining Russian gas exports to some European Union countries.
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Sep 26, 2024 | 
bruegel.org | Simone Tagliapietra |Giovanni Sgaravatti |Georg Zachmann |Ben McWilliams
This post-Brexit bilateral relationship is based on the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), signed by the EU and the UKin May 2021. It includes specific provisions on electricity and natural gas trade that have so far sustained cross-border energy flows in those commodities. However, the temporary nature of these trading arrangements weakens the business case for British and European companies to make clean energy investments.
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Sep 12, 2024 | 
bruegel.org | Georg Zachmann |Ben McWilliams
The 9 September Draghi report, produced by former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi for the European Commission as a steer for future European Union strategy, makes the energy sector a top priority. It takes into account the sector’s complexity, the competing interests of key participants and the resultant trade-offs, and proposes a range of solutions.
