Opinions

Ten comments to look at the challenges of the new year. Chapter eight: human rights. The situation in Ukraine brings up again the issue of war crimes and their prosecution. However, legal action and political will show different faces when it comes to protection

Ten comments to look at the challenges of the new year. Chapter Seven: gender equality. Europe has adopted a 2020/25 strategy to demand minimum standards from member states, but gender equality is also seen as strategic for national recovery plans. The year 2023 will have to be decisive to provide new momentum

Ten comments to look at the challenges of the new year. Chapter Six: Energy. Gas prices in the Dutch TTF market have shown to obey fundamentals rather than phantom speculators, and the price has fallen in reaction to a contraction in demand, driven by the completion of storage filling, mild weather, and a slowdown in final demand. For the foreseeable future, it will therefore be necessary to look at the dynamics of supply and demand

Ten comments to look ahead to the challenges of the new year. Fifth chapter: monetary policy. Even more than interest rates, we need to think about its transparency. The reason is that the effectiveness of monetary policy depends on its ability to influence the expectations of households, businesses and markets. And that ability is in turn linked to central bank announcements.

Ten comments to look at the challenges of the new year. Fourth chapter: climate change. Europe is the largest international market for greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to gradually auctioning the remaining 40% of emission permits, the Carbon Boarder Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is expected to come into effect to prevent carbon leakage, i.e., the transfer of emissions to less stringent countries

Ten comments to look at the challenges of the new year. Chapter Three: Europe, which needs to play according to new patterns and invest more in its domestic market, the richest in the world, by focusing on a model in which its strategic autonomy is central