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Four European countries still offering golden visas to property buyers
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Euractiv
an hour ago
- Euractiv
Why are Europe's electricity bills so high? Austria has the answer
With Austrian energy companies refusing to compete with one another, consumers at the mercy of their local hegemons are left paying higher bills than they should – a problem mirrored across Europe. When energy prices in Russian-gas-addicted Austria surged – and Vienna's main utility company almost went bust – the government ordered the competition authority and energy regulator to examine the sector. Two years on, their final report paints a damning picture of an energy market frozen in time. 'After 24 years of liberalisation, there is still no functioning national competitive market,' said Natalie Harsdorf, head of Austria's competition authority, the BWB. Instead of utilities competing nationwide for the business of Austria's millions of households, firms have carved out regional fiefdoms – or as Harsdorf put it, 'we have regional companies that dominate the markets'. Austria has one of Europe lowest contract-switching rates – a key indicator used to gauge market competitiveness – at just 4.5%. A typical new supply contract is currently around 10% more expensive than in neighbouring Germany. The investigation revealed a retail electricity market riddled with 'countless cross-shareholdings between companies'. What that means is that each regional utility owns stakes in others. 'The question arises: do these companies even want to participate in Austria-wide competition?' said Wolfgang Urbantschitsch, head of the country's energy regulator, E-Control. Vienna's main utility firm owns 28% of Lower Austria's EVN, which in turns holds an indirect 36% stake in Burgenland's primary energy provider. Most utilities also own shares in Austria's main power producer, Verbund. So why compete? 'It seems that they do not need to,' Urbantschitsch concluded. The situation has grown so dire that Austria is pioneering a new set of antitrust laws aimed at curbing the dominance of major energy suppliers. Introduced in 2024, the legislation compels firms to match consumer-friendly terms offered elsewhere – or explain why they don't. 'The BWB is now focusing on individual investigations,' Harsdorf said. Europe in trouble Austria is far from alone. Two major indicators suggest the entire EU is struggling to foster real competition for retail electricity consumers. Just 7.15% of European household consumers switched suppliers in 2023, according to market data from the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) and EU watchdog ACER. And for all of Austria's flaws, eight countries – including Romania, Slovakia, Poland and Luxembourg – fare even worse. The problem: dominant utilities tend to hold onto consumers. Once switching rates drop below 10%, regulators say 73% of households are locked into a dominant supplier. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), a common measure of market concentration, tells a similar story. In 2023, just five EU countries were in the 'green' – indicating a competitive, unproblematic market. Nine others – among them Belgium, Poland, Italy and Spain – were in the 'orange' zone, showing signs of worrying concentration. A further nine countries were flagged 'red', where one or very few utilities dominate the retail market – leaving consumers vulnerable without firm regulatory intervention. Too often, that oversight is lacking – and Germany offers a cautionary tale. In 2023, local grid operators saw a staggering 20.2% return on investment, an investigation by think tank BNE found. 'If network operators can achieve such returns, then something is fundamentally wrong with the regulatory framework,' said its CEO, Robert Busch. While firms with state-backed monopolies should normally be afforded returns upwards of 5%, in some extreme cases – like EWE – profits surged to 50% on capital, BNE said. (rh, aw)
Euractiv
an hour ago
- Euractiv
Military spending splurge ‘risk factor' for EU economy, says Denmark
COPENHAGEN – The EU's push to boost military expenditure could undermine the bloc's financial stability unless EU countries curb soaring deficit and debt levels, according to Denmark's economy minister. Stephanie Lose told Euractiv that Europe must ramp up defence spending 'very quickly' to deter Russia's growing military threat, but warned this outlay may pose an additional 'risk' to the bloc's economy, which is already reeling from the twin impact of US tariffs and fierce Chinese competition. 'At the same time as there is this unrest in the economies across the world, [we] need to boost defence spending very quickly,' said Lose, whose country took over the rotating Council presidency from Poland earlier this month. 'That is a risk factor for our economies, because if we don't combine that with wise decisions on ways to a more sustainable path for public finances, then I guess it will be a problem in terms of increased debt levels and unsustainable finances,' she added. Lose's comments come after NATO members last month pledged to increase military spending to 3.5% of annual GDP by 2035, almost double the US-led alliance's previous 2% target. The 32-member military bloc – which includes 23 of the EU's 27 member states – also agreed to allocate an additional 1.5% of total output to security-related infrastructure. Spain, however, secured an opt-out allowing it to spend just 2.1% in total on defence. Sixteen EU countries – including Denmark – have also heeded the European Commission's recent call to activate the 'national escape clause," a key component of President Ursula von der Leyen's €800 billion 'ReArm Europe' plan to ward off Moscow's threat to the continent. Activating the clause allows capitals to spend an additional 1.5% on defence without contravening the bloc's fiscal rules, which limit member states' deficits to 3%. However, France, Italy, and Spain – the EU's second, third, and fourth-largest economies – have refrained from invoking the clause amid concerns about their already high budget deficits. France and Italy are also among nine EU countries currently subject to a so-called 'excessive deficit procedure," or formal reprimand, by the Commission for breaching the bloc's 3% fiscal threshold. Lose, who will attend her first meeting of European finance ministers as Council chair on Monday, said she couldn't 'judge' France, Italy, and Spain's decisions not to activate the clause, as this depends on their underlying motivations. 'On one side, it's good if you adhere to sound public finances: so if it means that they're exploring ways to fulfil the 3.5% NATO goal without being on an unsustainable path to a higher extent than they already are, then that's, of course, great news,' she said. '[But] if it symbolises that there won't be any room at all to boost defence spending, then it's, of course, a problem,' she added. (mm)
Euractiv
an hour ago
- Euractiv
Tokyo-born Czech nationalist revives Czexit ahead of national election
PRAGUE – Tomio Okamura, the Tokyo-born leader of Czechia's far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, is making a political comeback before the October general election – and bringing the idea of a Czech EU exit back with him. Okamura has built a political career on hard-line nationalist positions, including proposals to ban the promotion of Islam , a strict anti-immigration agenda , and increasingly vocal criticism of Ukraine and the presence of Ukrainian refugees in Czechia. He has dismissed the EU's Green Deal as a ' crazy neo-Marxist plan ' and his party, SPD, continues to demand referendums on Czech membership in both the EU and NATO – ideas firmly rejected by mainstream parties. His position on a potential EU referendum is clear: "I would vote for the Czech Republic to leave the EU," he said . A recent STEM poll for CNN Prima News places SPD at 13%, third behind the populist ANO (32%) and the centre-right Spolu (21%). The rebound follows SPD's strategic merger with three smaller nationalist groups, forming a more unified anti-EU front. Okamura's nationalism stands in sharp contrast with his own personal biography . Born to a Czech mother and a Japanese-Korean father, he spent part of his childhood in Tokyo before moving to Prague. Before entering politics, he ran a series of tourism-related businesses and was a partner in a now-bankrupt travel agency, which let customers send toys abroad to be photographed in popular tourist locations . He later became vice-president and spokesperson for the Association of Czech Travel Agencies. In 2008, he was even appointed Czech ambassador for the EU's European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. SPD is his second political project, following a bitter split from his previous party, Dawn of Direct Democracy, in 2015. Among Okamura's fiercest critics are members of his own family. His older brother, Hayato Okamura, is an MP for the pro-EU Christian Democrats and accuses his brother of 'objectively supporting the Kremlin.' The youngest sibling, architect Osamu Okamura, ran for the Greens in the 2024 European elections, vowing to 'strengthen active EU membership.' Although the brothers have refrained from personal attacks in public, their ideological divisions are profound. In 2024, Hayato apologised in parliament for what he described as his brother's 'Ukrainophobia." Okamura has also been entangled in multiple legal disputes, mainly with media outlets and NGOs over alleged defamation – most of which he has lost. In early 2025, he was stripped of parliamentary immunity to face potential criminal charges related to an allegedly racially charged campaign in the 2024 European elections. Okamura is unlikely to achieve his long-held goal of taking Czechia out of the EU anytime soon. The populist party ANO, the frontrunner, shows no interest in Czexit, and the current centre-right government remains firmly pro-European. But with several smaller factions hovering near the 5% threshold to enter parliament, the SPD could emerge as ANO's only viable coalition ally, giving Okamura leverage to pull Czech politics further toward the nationalist, anti-EU fringe. (de, mm)
