This week’s chart is on the UK-EU withdrawal agreement financial settlement. Perhaps surprisingly given recent press coverage, ICAEW’s analysis is that it remains roughly unchanged from the Treasury’s 2018 estimate.
The European Commission has adopted a sweeping set of legislative proposals to deliver climate neutrality by 2050. The package paves the way for a transformation of the EU’s policies over the next decade.
Our chart this week is on the OBR Fiscal Risks Report, highlighting how delaying action to achieve net zero could double the cost to the public finances compared with acting more quickly.
Faced with a declining working age population, EU countries need to address the economic and budgetary consequences of ageing when carrying out COVID-19 recovery reform and investment plans in order to preserve longer-term fiscal sustainability.