A Europe rich in history, heritage and values: the Council of Europe Cultural Routes’ programme celebrates its 30th anniversary, on the occasion of the 7th Advisory Forum in Palazzo Ducale and Real Collegio in Lucca (Italy) on 27-29 September, with a special ceremony to highlight the relevance of Cultural Routes for the promotion of cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and sustainable tourism. More...
Implementing ECHR judgments: Latest decisions now online
The latest case-by-case decisions on the implementation of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights have been published by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. More...
Venice Commission on Georgian draft Constitution
The European Commission for Democracy through Law (the “Venice Commission”) published today its new draft opinion on the draft Constitution of Georgia as adopted in the second reading in June 2017, as well as on the letter submitted by the Georgian authorities to the Venice Commission on 20 September 2017, in which they committed themselves to consider new amendments. More...
Luxembourg: Authorities encouraged to continue efforts to integrate asylum-seekers and migrants
“Luxembourg has made considerable efforts to respond to Europe’s refugee and migrant crisis by receiving asylum-seekers and relocating and resettling refugees from other parts of Europe and beyond. It has largely avoided the trap of political instrumentalisation of the issue of migration, and government and civil society have been actively providing protection to people in need”, said NilsMuižnieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, concluding a visit to Luxembourg from 18 to 22 September 2017 which focused on the issues of asylum, migration and integration. More...
Reducing inequality to raise incomes and expand well-being for all Colombians
Posted . One of the key challenges facing Colombia is the creation of better quality jobs. Although the economy has grown strongly for some time, income and regional inequalities remain important. More...
The Slovenian economy is bouncing back
Posted . Slovenia would do well if its economy performed as well as its ski-jumpers. In 2015, Slovenian Peter Prevc became the first ski-jumper in history to jump 250 metres. As impressive has been his ability to land successfully, being among the few jumpers to receive a perfect 20 points for style. More...
Where to get the best bang for the buck in the United Kingdom? Industrial strategy, investment and lagging regions
Posted . The United Kingdom has large regional disparities in productivity which contribute to differences in living standards across the country, while its less productive regions also hold back overall economic performance (OECD, 2017). High levels of productivity in London are widespread across nearly all sectors, especially among knowledge intensive services such as finance and insurance and information and communication technologies (ICT). More...
Retraining can enable ageing Slovenians to keep pace with new technologies
Posted . While workers in many OECD countries are worried whether robots will take their jobs, the inhabitants of the Slovenian town of Kočevje are less concerned. In 2016 Japanese robotics firm, Yaskawa, announced plans to produce robots in Kočevje, which could create up to 200 jobs. More...
Mitigating the negative economic impact of Brexit
Posted . Ahead of the referendum on Brexit, the OECD had been anticipating a significant decrease in economic growth if the decision to leave the EU were taken (Kierzenkowski et al., 2016). As the UK economy has started to slow down, OECD simulations remain remarkably valid so far. More...
Statistical Insights: What does household debt say about financial resilience?
Posted . Household debt levels increased rapidly in many economies in the run-up to the 2007-2008 financial crisis, fuelled in part by easy credit and rising property prices. Ratios of debt to annual income – used by lenders to determine households’ repayment capacity – then reached record highs across OECD countries. More...