Agreement on waste package in sight
Following a provisional agreement on all four proposals in the waste package, brokered during the last days of the Estonian presidency, it is expected that the package will finally be adopted early this year. More than two years after the Commission’s original proposals, new targets and rules will be adopted, aimed at promoting a more circular economy.
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Evaluation of the scale of Undeclared Work in the EU
How big is the problem of undeclared work in the EU? According to a recent study undertaken by the European Commission (DG EMPL), more than 11% of work in the private sector is “under the table”. Although the study doesn’t provide information regarding the situation in the different economic sectors, it shows that there are big differences between EU countries, with Poland, Romania and Lithuania having the highest levels of undeclared work, while Germany and the Netherlands have low levels. The study analyses the reasons for this and examines the types of employment where cases of undeclared work are more frequent.The complete study can be downloaded by clicking on the button below.
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Implementation of European Investment and Strucural Funds makes progress
In a report published mid-December, the European Commission assesses the implementation of the 5 European Investment and Structural Funds (incl. the European Regional and Development Fund – ERDF). After a particularly difficult start, the rate that these funds are delivering concrete projects has now reached cruising speed, the Commission says. As of October 2017, a total of €278 billion has been invested into the real economy (44% of the total envelope for the period 2014-2020).
However, the Commission notes that major differences in implementation between Member States remain: Belgium (selection level of 54.8%) and the United Kingdom (58.3%) show very good results while others, like Spain (11.4%) and Cyprus (6.1%) still lag behind.
Among the reasons for the delays are late adoption of the regulatory framework, difficulties with the designation of authorities and, in some cases, weak administrative capacity.
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