Monday, March 11, 2024

Dutch government tries to stop ASML from moving out

Published on 07/03/2024 -

The Netherlands is increasingly tightening its anti-migrant position. That could push out its largest company, ASML, because of its high dependence on foreign talent.

The Dutch government is pulling out all the stops to entice semiconductor maker ASML to remain in the country, following the company being openly disgruntled about The Netherlands' anti-migrant position.

It has now embarked on a cross-ministry effort, named 'Operation Beethoven', to convince the company to continue its investments and operations in the country.

ASML is the country's biggest company, as well as being one of Europe's largest. However, it also relies heavily on foreign employees, with about 40% of its 23,000 strong Netherlands' labour force being of a different nationality.

As such, the company has been warning against the dangers of a tighter anti-migration policy on its operations for months. However, the Dutch government has still moved to tighten migration laws, which could mean that ASML faces more difficulties hiring appropriately skilled talent in the country.

ASML CEO Peter Wennick, as reported by The Guardian, said: "Ultimately, we can only grow this company if there are enough qualified people. We prefer to do that here, but if we cannot get those people here, we will get those people in Eastern Europe or in Asia or in the United States."

Regarding the stricter migration laws, Wennick said: "Be careful, because you will soon get exactly what you ask for. The consequences of limiting labour migration are large - we need those people to innovate. If we can’t get those people here, we will go somewhere where we can grow."

The company mostly imports its parts from different countries, but builds its machines in the south of the country, in Veldhoven. Currently, the company is reported to be considering France as an alternate location to The Netherlands.

Dutch anti-migrant laws could hit tax breaks and students

Amongst other regulations, Dutch anti-migration laws are expected to slash tax breaks for highly skilled foreign talent, as well as put a restriction on the number of foreign students attending the country's universities.

More moves on curbing immigration could be seen in the coming months, especially if The Netherlands anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV), the largest one currently in parliament, manages to garner enough support.

Geert Wilders, the head of this party has been very vocal about bringing in policies such as no Islamic headscarves in government buildings, as well as bans on the Qur'an and mosques. He has also highlighted how better healthcare, housing and more disposable income for Dutch people will be at the forefront of his policies.

ASML may have outgrown Netherlands

Although the migrancy issue seems to be a major one for ASML, the Dutch government maintains that the company also wants to move out of The Netherlands in order to be able to grow more.

This rapid growth could potentially put an unprecedented amount of pressure on the country's facilities, which may not have the capacity to scale up at the same rate.

Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Micky Adriaansens said, as reported by Reuters: "I don’t know if they would leave. They want to grow. And they want to grow at such an amount, it puts a pressure on our infrastructure.

"That's why we're talking to them very intensively. Because we want to understand, is it something we can solve?"

ASML has also been seeing increased growth due to the soaring demand for semiconductors globally recently. This has also led to the US and EU attempting to advance their own domestic semiconductor production, so as to reduce dependence on China, which is currently the semiconductor leader.

EU Policy. Deal on platform workers, after previous agreement fell apart

By Cynthia Kroet

Published on 11/03/2024 -

The agreed text strikes a balance between respecting national labour law and ensuring minimum standards of protection, the council said.

EU member states and lawmakers today (11 March) provisionally agreed on new rules for platform workers, aiming to improve working conditions and regulate the use of algorithms by digital labour platforms.

The deal comes after several member states last month derailed a political agreement that was reached earlier between the member states and the European Parliament.

The rules were first proposed by the commission in December 2021, to protect workers for apps such as Uber, Deliveroo and Glovo who are often treated as self-employed despite being under rules similar to ordinary employees.

Under the law, the use of algorithms for workers that are used in human resources management will be made more transparent, ensuring that automated systems are monitored by qualified staff and that workers have the right to contest automated decisions.

"This is the first-ever piece of EU legislation to regulate algorithmic management in the workplace and to set EU minimum standards to improve working conditions for millions of platform workers across the EU,” Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy and Employment Pierre-Yves Dermagne said in a statement.

28 million

The agreed text strikes a balance between respecting national labour systems and ensuring minimum standards of protection for the more than 28 million people working in digital labour platforms across the EU, the council said.

The main compromise elements revolve around a legal presumption which will help determine the right employment status of people working for digital platforms.

A spokesperson for Uber said in a statement that the vote today means maintaining the status quo "with platform worker status continuing to be decided country-to-country and court-to-court."

"Uber now calls on EU countries to introduce national laws that give platform workers the protections they deserve while maintaining the independence they prefer.”

Plenary vote

Last month, Germany – host of Delivery Hero and Free Now – chose to abstain, together with Greece and Estonia. France, an opponent of the law, said it could not support the text on the table.

France and Germany also abstained during today’s vote.

In the negotiations, the parliament mostly opted for a worker-friendly position that made it harder for platforms to circumvent the legal presumption, strengthened the transparency requirements on algorithms and ramped up penalties for non-compliance.

The gap between the two institutions bogged down negotiations over the past year.

The text of the agreement will now be finalised in all the official languages and formally adopted by both institutions. The parliament is likely to vote in its April plenary session.

Member states will then have two years to incorporate the provisions of the directive into their national legislation.

Investing in women and girls: Is gender parity the key to economic prosperity?

By Oleksandra Vakulina

Published on 08/03/2024

Why does the world need more women in the labour market and managerial positions? Kristalina Georgieva, the International Monetary Fund's Managing Director, shares her thoughts on the Global Conversation.

Research by the International Monetary Fund suggests that global GDP will increase when women are granted an equal playing field in the labour market and decision-making roles.

More specifically, reducing the gender gap in labour markets could boost GDP in emerging and developing economies by 8 per cent. Closing the gap entirely would increase GDP by 23 per cent on average.

But why is women's empowerment essential for economic growth and development?

Underrepresentation in decision-making roles, particularly in politics, is a widespread issue. Statistically, women account for less than 25 per cent of representatives in parliament in seven EU member states including Hungary, Ireland and Greece.

The European Parliament fares better with a gender balance of 40 per cent women to 60 per cent men. The leaders of the EP and the European Commission are also women while some of Europe'smost influential financial bodies, like the European Central Bank and the European Investment Bank, have female presidents.

When it comes to climate change, the EIBdiscovered in 2022 that increasing the number of women in corporate decision-making roles could lead to a 0.5 per cent drop in CO2 emissions.

So how can Europe increase the number of women in positions of power to fast-track sustainable development and boost economic growth? Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the IMF shares her thoughts on the latest episode of the Global Conversation.

Europe still has work to do

**Sasha Vakulina, Euronews:**Ms Georgieva, two thirds of the world's most prosperous countries in the world are in Europe, and yet income inequality is rife across the continent. How does inequality affect economic growth?

Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director: Growth and inequality are very tightly connected. But let me make a very important point for Europe: as a European, I'm proud that Europe is a place where attention to inclusion and equality has been relatively higher than in many other places. And as a result, Europe enjoys social safety nets, that were put to work after COVID-19, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to protect the most vulnerable people of society.

Now, this being said, can Europe strive to do even better? Of course, it can. Because what we face in Europe and actually across the world is very anaemic growth, slow growth. How can we boost growth prospects? Well, by tapping into all the resources we have. And that takes us to a particular aspect of inequality, which is gender inequality. Bring women into the labour force, into the power of our societies and economies more, and we would tremendously benefit.

Euronews Correspondent Sasha Vakulina speaking with Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director of the IMF.

Sasha Vakulina, Euronews: Let's let's look at it in detail. With traditional growth engines sputtering, many economies, as you said, are missing out, by not tapping into women's potential. Now, how much are we missing out on?

Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director: Well, we are missing a lot. Unfortunately, based on the most recent World Bank analysis, there is not a single country on our beautiful planet where women are fully equal to men. So we have a work to do. And I can say from the analysis we do at the IMF, that the evidence is so overwhelming that everybody benefits.

In these days of slow growth, we can get up to a 23 per cent increase in GDP if we take in the emerging markets and developing economies. Looking at the global average, it is a 20 per cent increase. Why wouldn't we want to do it, all of us?

Mind the gap

Sasha Vakulina, Euronews: Well, as you said, why not tap into that potential? We understand the stats, they are shocking, we know the reasons, and we know the possible benefits. How else can we push to make that happen?

Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director: The way to push is to have a credible data-based policy foundation. There is a very important ‘closing the data gaps initiative’ that the G20 has promoted. Part of it is to have credible data on the distribution of income, on what we should know when we make decisions as to how to eliminate these barriers.

We know that tax policies can help, we know that investment in early childcare can help, and we know that safe transportation can help so that women are not afraid to get on a bus or the metro. And we also know that how women are treated by the financial system can help, when women have access to finance on equal footing and they still don't.

A small story from Brussels

Sasha Vakulina, Euronews: Ms Georgieva, despite significant progress in recent decades on the current pace of reforms, global gender gaps are estimated to close over the next three centuries. I'll repeat that: three centuries! And one of the most important measures to improve the situation is increasing women's representation in decision-making positions. This is something that you've got a lot to share about. How thorny was your path and what's your take on that?

Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director: Well, I, started, my professional career as a young professor in Bulgaria. And, from the early days, one thing was clear to me: to be treated as equal, I have to work harder than my male colleagues. And I regret to say that has remained my experience almost throughout my whole professional life. So what I can tell women, young women in particular, is, despite that, there may be obstacles, but:

1. You can do it. You're strong, you're smart. You're beautiful. You can step forward for yourself but also contribute to society by doing so.

2. When you do it - and that is a very important lesson I learned personally, and I saw it time and again in my professional life - believe in yourself. Do not hesitate to present your credentials with confidence.

When I was vice president for Human Resources we had a very important target to increase the proportion of women in senior positions to 40 per cent. And I can say the Commission did a great job but one thing that I noticed was we had two finalists, a man and a woman. They were interviewed and assessed against five criteria and had some strengths and weaknesses. They covered three of the five and less of the other two.

How did the man approach the interview? He said: "Look, I covered the most important three criteria in full, and I'm bringing my fantastic personality to the job. Of course, I'm the best person for the job".

How did the woman interview? She said: "Well, I only covered three of the criteria, I don't know, maybe there is somebody better than me".

Don't do that. If you don't believe in yourself, why should others believe in you? And I would also say to women: work with other women. There is strength in a critical mass. I see it everywhere.

I see it at the Fund (IMF), I saw it at the World Bank, at the European Commission, when we have more women around the table, you can feel the energy in the room, and we make better decisions because we can provide different perspectives in those conversations.

So, step forward for yourself, for girls and women, for boys and men. Do your part for society!

For Sasha's full report click on the video in the media player above

Climate activists alongside Greta Thunberg block the Swedish parliament

By Euronews with AP

Published on 11/03/2024 -

Climate activists, alongside Greta Thunberg, demonstrated in front of the Swedish parliament by blocking entrances, urging for radical changes to address the climate crises.

Around 40 activists, holding signs with messages like "Climate Justice Now," positioned themselves in front of at least two entrances to the 349-seat Riksdagen, including the main doorway. Local Swedish media indicated that lawmakers used alternative entrances.

Expressing frustration, Thunberg addressed local media saying, "The climate justice movement has, for decades, been repeating the same message over and over again, like a broken record, and we feel like we are not being heard."

Climate activists have accused fossil fuel companies of intentionally hindering the global transition to renewable energy to make more profits.

Greta Thunberg cleared of public order charge during London oil conference protest

Greta Thunberg, 21, has brought together a global youth movement, demanding stronger action against climate change, stemming from her weekly protests outside the Swedish parliament since 2018.

Europe’s arms imports nearly double, France overtakes Russia as world’s second-largest exporter

By Euronews

Published on 11/03/2024 -

Much of the growth in arms imports by European countries between 2019 and 2023 is due to the massive transfers of weapons to Ukraine in 2022 and 2023, according to a recent study.

European countries have nearly doubled their arms imports between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023, boosting their purchases by 94% in the period observed, according to a new study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Much of this increase was due to the transfers of arms to Ukraine, which is still fighting off the Russian invasion and which, between 2022 and 2023, received 23% of the region’s arms import in 2019-2023.

Two European countries - France and Italy - have also significantly stepped up their exports in the same period, finding willing buyers in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Perhaps surprisingly seeing the current situation in Europe and the rest of the world, with the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, the global volume of international arms transfers fell slightly by 3.3% between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023.

Who’s Europe buying arms from?

The largest importer in Europe was by far Ukraine, which accounted for 23% of all Europe’s imports between 2019 and 2023. The next biggest importers were the UK (11% of all European imports) and the Netherlands (9.0%).

A majority of 55% of the arms imports by European countries between 2019-2023 came from the US, whose exports to Europe were up 35% compared to the previous timeframe analysed, 2014-2018. Other major arms imported to Europe between 2019 and 2023 came from Asia, Oceania and the Middle East.

“Many factors shape European NATO states’ decisions to import from the USA, including the goal of maintaining trans-Atlantic relations alongside the more technical, military and cost-related issues,” SIPRI Director Dan Smith explained in a press release. “If trans-Atlantic relations change in the coming years, European states’ arms procurement policies may also be modified.”

The next largest supporters after the U.S. were Germany (6.4%) and France (4.6%).

The rise of France’s arms exports

The US and France currently dominate global arms exports, with Washington having grown its exports by 17% between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023 and Paris by 47% in the same period.

The US alone was responsible for 42% of the total global arms exports, delivering arms to 107 states between 2019 and 2023, more than any other major exporters. The rise in French arms exports, on the other hand, was mainly due to the delivery of combat aircraft to India, Qatar and Egypt.

For the very first time, France was ahead of Russia in the list of largest arms exporters in the world, ranking second where Russia ranked third. That’s because while France’s exports climbed, Russia’s exports halved (-53%) in the same period. While Russia exported to 31 states in 2019, the number dropped to only 12 in 2023.

The largest share of France’s arms exports (42%) went to countries in Asia and Oceania, while another 34% went to Middle Eastern states.

The largest recipient of French arms exports was India, with nearly 30% of all exports. The country was the world’s top arms importer between 2019-2023 - though its main supplier remains Russia, which accounted for 36% of all its imports.

“France is using the opportunity of strong global demand to boost its arms industry through exports,” said Katarina Djokic, a researcher at SIPRI. “France has been particularly successful in selling its combat aircraft outside Europe.”

Other countries - including another European one - saw their arms exports increase in the past three years. In Italy, arms exports grew by 86%, while in South Korea they climbed by 12%.

China saw arms exports slide down by 5.3%, Germany and the UK by 14%, Spain by 2.2% and Israel by 25%.

Who’s Europe selling arms to?

Together with the US, Western Europe accounted for 72% of all arms exports in 2019-2023, while alone Europe was responsible for about a third of global arms exports, including large volumes going outside the region.

A total of five European countries, excluding Russia, were among the top 10 largest exporters in the world, including France (2nd place), Germany (5th place), Italy (6th place), UK (7th place) and Spain (8th place). The Netherlands were in 12th place, followed by Sweden (13th), Poland (14th), Switzerland (17th), Ukraine (18th), Norway (19th) Belgium (22nd) and Belarus (23rd).

Some 30% of international arms transfers went to the Middle East in 2019-2023, with the top three buyers in the region being Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. The majority of arms imports by Middle Eastern states were supplied by the US (52%), followed by France (12%), Italy (10%) and Germany (7.1%).

The biggest importers in 2019-2023 were India, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, followed by Ukraine, which has received major transfers of arms from over 30 countries between 2022 and 2023.

The US and Germany accounted respectively for 69% and 30% of arms imports by Israel, which is currently fighting a deadly war against Hamas in Gaza which killed over 30,000 people, most of whom were civilians.

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