France to Curb Spending as Government Sees Slippage From Plans
'The additional effort decided today reflects a clear determination to act without delay to meet our targets for controlling public accounts and debt, with a view to bringing our deficit below 3% by 2029,' Finance Minister Eric Lombard said in a statement Thursday.
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Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Surviving retirement: Where do older Europeans get their money?
Older people had lower average disposable incomes than the total population in 28 European countries in 2022, according to the OECD. Luxembourg was the only exception among the 29 countries included in the analysis. Pensioners face financial difficulties in many countries and some people aged 65 and over continue to work as a result. But how exactly do the income sources of older people vary across nations? According to OECD data, two-thirds (66%) of the income of people aged 65 and over in Europe comes from public payouts, which are mainly state pensions and benefits. That's on average across 27 countries in 2020 or the latest available year. Work is the largest income source after public transfers, accounting for 21% of disposable income for older citizens. Capital income, such as personal pensions and savings, follows at 7%, and private occupational pensions at 6%. The share of public payouts in incomes ranges from 41% in Switzerland to 86% in Belgium. Public transfers also account for at least three-quarters of income for older people in Luxembourg (83%), Austria (82%), Finland (80%), Czechia (76%), Italy (76%), and Portugal and Greece (both 75%). Besides Switzerland, this share is below 50% in the UK (42%), the Netherlands (43%), and Denmark (45%). Among Europe's five largest economies, France has the highest share of public transfers in older people's incomes at 78%, while the UK has the lowest at 42%. The share is 76% in Italy, 72% in Spain, and 68% in Germany. With the exception of Finland, the Nordic countries have lower shares of public transfers. The share is 52% in Sweden, and 58% in both Norway and Iceland. In Turkey, an EU candidate country, 57% of older people's income comes from public transfers. Private occupational transfers exist only in 7 countries Private occupational pensions (pensions, severance payments, death grants, etc.) are not common across Europe. Among 27 countries, only seven note them as a source of income for older people. The Netherlands has the highest share, where they account for 40% of income, followed by the UK at 33% and Switzerland at 29%. Three Nordic countries also include private occupational pensions. They make up 19% of income in Sweden, 15% in Denmark, and 14% in Norway. Germany is the last country in this group, with private occupational pensions accounting for just 5% of income. How does the share of capitals vary? The portion of income that comes from capital — mainly private pensions and personal savings — varies significantly across Europe, ranging from less than 1% in Slovakia to as much as 23% in Denmark. In several countries, this share is at least 10%. These include Turkey and Switzerland (both 16%), France (15%), Sweden (12%), the UK (11%), and Finland, Norway, and Iceland (each at 10%). The share of capital in older people's income is less than 5% in several countries. Work remains a key income source for older people The share of work in the income of older people is significant in many European countries, exceeding one-third in several. It ranges from 7% in France to 40% in Latvia. Work accounts for over 32% of income for older people in Slovakia (36%), Lithuania (35%), Estonia and Poland (both 34%), and Iceland (32%). Work still makes up at least one-fifth of older people's income in several countries, including Turkey (27%), Hungary (26%), Slovenia (23%), Ireland and Czechia (22% each), and Greece, Portugal (21% each), and Spain (20%). Older people in France, Luxembourg, Finland, and Belgium are among the least reliant on work, with employment income accounting for less than 11% of their total income. Key findings: Varied social security systems Varying levels of the four income sources for older people, most of whom are pensioners, show the diversity of social security systems across Europe. Key insights from the data include: Western Europe (such as Belgium, France, Austria) relies heavily on public pensions as the primary income source. Nordic countries (such as Denmark and Sweden, not Finland) have more diversified income sources, including strong private pension schemes. Eastern and Southern Europe (including Poland, Slovakia, Greece, and Turkey) tend to have higher shares of work-related income. Private occupational pensions remain underdeveloped in many Eastern and Southern European countries. Old age poverty remains a significant issue in several European countries, and major pension disparities continue to exist across the continent. As life expectancies increase, policymakers face growing challenges to ensure adequate support for ageing populations while keeping deficits at economically sustainable levels.
Yahoo
21 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘I've seen F1 go from a man's world to women at the front of the queue'
When race promoter Ariane Frank-Meulenbelt took over the running of the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2012, Formula One was very much still a man's world. Now, she sees the demographic of both the fans and those who work in motorsport changing. 'It's getting younger. It's getting way more female. I watch the opening of the gates at every grand prix and the thing that really struck me last year was that the first people at the gate were young women,' she says. 'The noses pressed up to the gate were all women.' Having held its inaugural race in 1986, the Hungarian GP was the first and only grand prix to ever be held behind the Iron Curtain. Celebrating its 40th year in 2025, it remains one of the longest running and most popular on the F1 calendar The Formula One Group (FWONK) has an estimated market cap of £24bn, and posted revenue of $3.41bn (£2.54bn) for 2024, up 5.9% annually. How F1 became the family business Frank-Meulenbelt's own entry into the F1 scene started at the age of 14, when the family business – set up by her father, uncle and mother – took over the promotion rights for the Hungarian GP in 1994. 'My father's English was notoriously bad, so he started dragging me with him around the world to help him translate in meetings and in contracts. So I started very young in this business.' Now splitting her time between Budapest and Vienna, Frank-Meulenbelt – officially the vice-president for international relations at the Hungaroring motorsport circuit – spent a stint working for Red Bull in London before returning home to the Austrian capital in 2007 knowing that at some point she was likely to take over the family firm. However, tragedy struck in 2012 with the sudden death of her father and she unexpectedly had to step up and take his place – just weeks before that year's Hungarian GP and with her one-year-old son in tow. 'That was a shock to the system. We all heavily relied on him as a family and also as a business. I mean, he was very much the heart and soul of the F1 business, especially. It was seven weeks before the grand prix and there was no handover,' she recalls. Her father, Tamas Frank, was very much an 'old-style' businessman – 'he was very much relationships, two mobile phones and not much documentation' – so there was very little to work with. But cancelling the event was never in question and she had strong support from then F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. 'I remember Bernie calling me and saying, 'If you don't want to have the grand prix, let me know and we'll find a solution.' And that hadn't crossed my mind. It was clear we were going to carry on. And, you know, luckily it was a big team and a lot of them have been involved for many, many years, and we made it work.' Despite the tragic circumstances and ensuing challenges, the 2012 Hungarian GP did go ahead and was won by Lewis Hamilton. Not that she really remembers much; it was all an emotional blur. But the race went ahead and that's what mattered. F1 promoter in her own right Fast forward to 2025, and Frank-Meulenbelt has established herself as a race promoter in her own right. Last year alone, a record 300,000 spectators flocked to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix, long deemed a classic on the F1 calendar. She also works closely with the Austrian GP, for which her company sells tickets. Meanwhile, at home, the toddler of 2012 is now a strapping teenager with a younger brother also in double digits. But while she at least had a year at home with her oldest child, the second time round was very different as she had little, if any maternity leave. 'He was in the office with me and I had a lot of help,' she explains. Read more: 'We were told being bald is bad — but our skincare gel hit 8,000 orders in one month' Indeed, Meulenbelt-Frank is the first to admit that juggling a successful career in motorsport with family life is a challenge – particularly with travelling frequently. 'I've got to be honest, it's hard. I can't say that I'm there for every school play or sports tournament. But I've got a very supportive husband and if I'm not there, he is.' They do carve out time as a family wherever possible, though, and the Hungarian GP still sees all family hands on deck. Her older son even had a small role at the 2024 event – just as she had started out with her father. 'That was a full circle moment for me,' she says. Her proudest professional moment, undoubtedly, is helping get Formula One back on the road through COVID, when many teams looked set to fail without sponsorship money. After the start of the 2020 season was cancelled, it came back to life behind closed doors – first in Austria, which held two races, and then Hungary, over three consecutive weekends in July. When first asked whether she could imagine holding a closed-door event in seven weeks' time, Meulenbelt-Frank thought 'have you lost it?'. 'But within about half an hour, we thought let's try and get together with our friends in Austria. We knew that we were going to find a way to get the sport back on the road.' Read more: A naval officer's submarine saga inspired me to become a leader 'Those seven weeks were like reinventing the wheel. Nobody knew how you put on an event with so few people, borders shut and at the height of COVID and testing. But we managed to pull off three successful events between us and that's what got F1 on the road and then other sports like football followed.' After over a decade managing the event herself, such achievements are very much her own. 'I've never thought of myself as 'oh, it's weird because I'm a woman'. For me, it was always strange because I was a daughter. I always thought, I wonder if they're still looking at me as a 14-year-old, or whether they're taking me seriously. 'And that's taken quite a lot of time to say, actually, I'm now known for my own achievements – you know, keeping the business going in COVID and growing the business, making new contracts and seeing the ticket sales for the Hungarian Grand Prix skyrocket. These are achievements I have to credit to myself; there's nobody else around to credit them to.' Times have definitely changed since Frank-Meulenbelt joined the top table in motorsport. Whereas once women in the sport tended to be hospitality and 'grid girls', they are now far more present at every level – from the C-suite down to the fans. Read more: I ditched waking up before 5am every day to grow my luxury bedding brand Much of this reflects wider societal changes, but it is also in large part down to Liberty Media's 2017 takeover of F1, which has seen the sport modernise its business model, expand its global reach and grow its fanbase. Under Liberty's leadership, F1 has also zoomed onto the screens of millions thanks to Netflix series Drive To Survive and thanks to the recently-released F1: The Movie, part of which was filmed at the Hungaroring. 'We'll see whether it's too much for the casual fan, but I think it'll give it the next big push,' she observes. 'The racing scenes are incredible.' As for the young women at the Hungaroring gates who may, one day, want to enter the F1 business… 'I think it's a great thing. And If they think I'm paving the way for them, that's great too.'Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNN
28 minutes ago
- CNN
‘Very risky business': John Bolton reacts to Trump's nuclear subs order
President Donald Trump issued a rare threat of nuclear escalation on Friday, saying he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be strategically positioned near Russia in response to what he said were aggressive remarks by Dmitry Medvedev, the country's former president and current deputy chairman of its Security Council. Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton joins CNN's Kaitlan Collins to discuss his take.
