Economic Development & Growth

The severe upheavals caused by anthropogenic climate change have led to an increasing global effort to mitigate the negative effects of global warming. In this, the European Union has taken the lead in pioneering initiatives to achieve carbon neutrality as a continent by 2050. The climate policies put in place follow a deep decarbonization approach, aiming at a quick response to the climate crisis through the pursuit of stringent goals. These numerous and ambitious policies have led to some encouraging results, but they look challenging for their potential impact on the socio-economic system.

This Policy Brief identifies raw materials which Ukraine has reserves for and examines Ukraine’s current role in raw material production and trade. It evaluates current global supply chains as well as EU and German sourcing patterns. A special focus will be on raw materials which are classified as strategic raw materials by the EU and which Ukraine has put an emphasis on in its activities on attracting investors.

In recent years, the EU has significantly shaped framework conditions in areas such as data protection, consumer health and safety, environmental protection, the supply chain, and antitrust law. However, the EU’s overregulation in some areas is seen not as beneficial, but as a detrimental factor limiting innovation, competition and growth. The EU now needs better, evidence-based regulation ensuring that its legislation is drafted in a transparent and inclusive manner and is as simple and targeted as possible to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy burdens and costs.

Governments around the world are increasingly turning to nudges to improve tax collection. Simple reminders, tax morale and disincentives significantly improve tax compliance.

Against the backdrop of the current debate about phasing out the internal combustion engine (ICE) in Germany and in order to observe where the industry is heading, job advertisements are analyzed that provide insights into the ongoing strategic shifts in the automotive sector.