Saudi Arabia : economic indicators and trade with EU

The EU is Saudi Arabia's first trading partner in goods, with 16.3 % of Saudi Arabia’s global trade, followed by China with 14.1 % and the US with 11.8 %. Saudi Arabia is the EU's 15th trading partner in goods, with an EU market share of 1.5 %. The trade balance is positive for the EU, as this infographic illustrates. Trade between the EU and Saudi Arabia takes place within the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The GCC countries formed their own customs union on 1 January 2015. The EU exports a wide range of goods and services to the region; however, around 50 % of the EU's exported goods to the GCC are machinery, including power generation plants, railway locomotives, aircrafts, electrical machinery and mechanical appliances. Meanwhile, approximately 70 % of all EU imports from the GCC consist of fuels and their derivatives. Following a reliance on oil revenues for about 90% of its budget in recent years, Saudi Arabia has embarked on an ambitious plan to restructure its oil-dependent economy, known as Vision 2030, involving diversification, privatisation, tax increases and subsidy cuts. Saudi Arabia has significant defence relationships with a rising number of EU Member States, primarily driven by the trade in arms (and often also related contracts for training and maintenance)

Labor exploitation in the Italian agricultural sector: the case of vulnerable migrants in Tuscany

Labor exploitation of agricultural migrant workers is a well-documented phenomenon by investigations and field research in several Italian regions, both in the North and the South. Despite the agri-food excellencies of the “Made in Italy” brand being a source of pride for Italian entrepreneurship, including the viticulture sector, evidence shows that many of these products are the result of different levels of illegal recruitment and labor exploitation. In this article, the authors analyze the impact of recent waves of vulnerable migrants entering the Italian labor market and present the results of a qualitative field research, conducted in Tuscany between 2021 and 2022. Through 60 interviews with exploited migrant workers and 40 interviews with relevant stakeholders, the authors focus on the recruitment process of vulnerable migrants into the agriculture sector and the labor conditions granted to them regardless of their particular migratory status. The article concludes with the analysis of the peculiarities of the Tuscan case study, characterized by the presence of a legal system of labor exploitation

Living in the EU : climate change and energy

The European Union (EU) has been protecting the environment since the early 1970s, considering economic prosperity and environmental protection interdependent. As energy policies are a competence shared between the EU and its Member States (MS) joint strategic planning is strongly developed. Human activities can have adverse impacts on the environment, and subsequently on our well-being. Therefore, it is vital to monitor how MS perform in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy supply, considering that alongside the energy model, human behaviour of EU citizens represents the key element to prevent climate change

Living in the EU : demography

Important effects of the ageing of its population will influence the future of the European Union (EU). The population is dramatically ageing, driven both by significant increases in life expectancy and by lower fertility rates than in the past. Population growth is therefore slowing down, along with an increasing old-age dependency ratio. Free movement within the EU, in particular east-west movement of EU citizens, has increased, reducing the population of some Member States, while increasing that of others. These changes have serious implications across a range of areas, including the economy, labour market, healthcare and pensions. Hence, they deserve in-depth analysis

Albania : economic indicators and trade with EU

The first EU-Western Balkans Summit in a decade and a half takes place in Sofia in May 2018, under the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council. That is just one indicator of the EU's renewed engagement with the six countries of the region, with the Commission's February 2018 enlargement strategy reaffirming their perspective of joining the Union. This infographic, one of a series produced by EPRS in cooperation with Globalstat, offers an overview of the main economic and trade data – in particular on trade with the EU – of Albania, as well as information on EU grants and loans to the country

Serbia : economic indicators and trade with EU

The first EU-Western Balkans Summit in a decade and a half takes place in Sofia in May 2018, under the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council. That is just one indicator of the EU's renewed engagement with the six countries of the region, with the Commission's February 2018 enlargement strategy reaffirming their perspective of joining the Union. This infographic, one of a series produced by EPRS in cooperation with Globalstat, offers an overview of the main economic and trade data – in particular on trade with the EU – of Serbia, as well as information on EU grants and loans to the country

Exploring the links between enhancing regular pathways and discouraging irregular migration : a discussion paper to inform future policy deliberations

The relationship between discouraging irregular migration through enforcement and encouraging regular migration flows is not straightforward. Relevant studies have highlighted complex dynamics. While stricter controls through both “fencing” (border controls) and “gatekeeping” (visa restrictions) policies appear to slow irregular migration, they also tend to change its course, leading migrants to try their luck through alternative irregular channels. Understanding migrant decision making as well as the contexts in which potential migrants make decisions is critically important but often misunderstood or ignored in policy deliberations. This discussion paper reviews a number of policy ideas that could lead to better management of regular migration while discouraging irregular flows as well as decision making contexts: Enhanced regional mobility regimes that allow for relatively seamless mobility within a set of countries, coupled with specific rights and obligations for workers and employers; Bilateral mobility schemes between a country of origin and a country of destination that respond to specific labour market dynamics; Sponsorship schemes that may facilitate entry and integration of the migrant and her/his family at destination; Humanitarian corridors that aim at preventing vulnerable migrants (including those who have become stranded) from undertaking irregular migration, with a view of arriving in a safe third country. New ideas discussed include Temporary Migration Partnerships; Skills and Mobility Partnerships; a Human Development Visa Scheme

Data dossier on 'Solidarity in Europe'

State of the Union 10-12 May 2018, FlorenceThe main Data Dossier on ‘Solidarity in Europe’ offers key statistics and data visualisations on each of the six topics of the EUI’s The State of the Union 2018 conference to provide a first insight into each area, namely Economic, Monetary and Fiscal Policies; Social Investment; European Defence and Security; Migration; Climate Change and Energy; and Development. The contents and data narrative have been conceptualised and written by the GlobalStat team, with the contribution of Anton Hemerijck for text on Social Investment. Based on this, Christian Dietrich, a data scientist and graphic designer, has developed and designed the magnificent data visualisations

Inequalities by immigrant status in unmet needs for healthcare in Europe: the role of origin, nationality and economic resources

The aim of the research is to assess whether there are inequalities in unmet needs for healthcare between natives and migrants within Europe. We used cross-sectional data from the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions 2012. Our dependent variables were perceived unmet needs for medical and dental examination or treatment. Our main independent variable is immigrant status, defined using a combination of country of birth and citizenship (nationals born in the country of residence, reference; European Union-born nationals; non-EU born nationals; EU-born foreigners; non EU-born foreigners). The prevalence ratios of unmet needs according to immigrant status are obtained through sex-stratified robust Poisson regression models, sequentially adjusted by age, health status and socio-economic characteristics. The prevalence of medical unmet needs, adjusted by age and health status, is higher in foreign women, both EU-born and non-EU born, but it is no longer significant after the socioeconomic adjustment. For dental unmet needs, the risk is significantly higher for all foreigners, EU and non EU-born, men and women. Once adjusted for socioeconomic variables significant inequalities persist, although diminished, for both EU-born and non-EU-born foreign men and EU-born foreign women. This study contributes to the discussion of adequate access to healthcare systems and adaptation of services for migrants. While inequalities cannot be detected for naturalised immigrants, the higher risk of unmet need affecting foreigners, even within the EU, deserves further attention