Agrégateur de flux

Die Beziehung zwischen den USA und Israel hat sich verschlechtert, die israelkritischen Stimmen in den USA werden lauter, so Nahostexperte Steinberg. Fehlende Unterstützung könnte für Israel gefährlich werden – und der Iran würde profitieren.

The Arctic – where polar, deep sea, and space intersect – offers a particularly revealing case for China’s ambitions in the “strategic new frontiers.”

Written by Silvia González Vidal and Colin Murphy.

Cyberbullying is a real issue for the current generation of young people who have grown up in the always connected digital world. While trends have indicated that both victims and perpetrators of cyberbullying are becoming younger, it can also affect adults, with women at greater risk of cyberviolence. Cyberbullying can take many forms and can cause anxiety and depression among its victims. People can experience shame and embarrassment and withdraw from studies, work, interests and their social circles. The impact of cyberviolence can be tangible with a significant economic cost to society.

The EU has placed significant importance on tackling the issue of cyberbullying. The Commission has adopted an action plan against cyberbullying in 2026, which focuses on a coordinated approach among Member States. It is designed to foster prevention and awareness, and encourages Member States to adopt comprehensive national strategies and promote a common understanding of cyberbullying to ensure a safer digital environment.

The EU has enacted a number of laws which address various elements of digitalisation to protect EU citizens and prevent providers of digital services and content from engaging in harmful practices. The EU also has a suite of policies and strategies to complement its legal framework in online child protection, coupled with support for parents and educators.

Risks from cyber-enabled violence continue to be a threat to European society, especially its young people. While advances in digital technology provide many opportunities, these are accompanied by a myriad of dangers. Cyberbullying is one such danger, with real-world consequences for individuals. While Member States across the EU have embarked on multi-faceted responses to the issue, there have been calls for an EU-wide legally binding definition of cyberbullying.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Addressing the gap between cyberbullying, cyberstalking and cyberharassment: Towards a legally binding definition of cyberbullying at EU level‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

La République démocratique du Congo est confrontée à une nouvelle vague du virus Ebola. Le bilan est déjà très lourd avec plus de 200 morts en un mois. Les soignants sont en première ligne pour tenter d'endiguer la propagation du virus. Nos équipes ont rencontré des médecins et des infirmiers, qui racontent leur combat quotidien, mais aussi leur désarroi face au manque criant de moyens.

Committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Following the vote on the report of the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield, the rapporteur and the committee chair will brief journalists on its findings.
Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Following the vote on the report of the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield, the rapporteur and the committee chair will brief journalists on its findings.
Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Following the vote on the report of the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield, the rapporteur and the committee chair will brief journalists on its findings.
Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Following the vote on the report of the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield, the rapporteur and the committee chair will brief journalists on its findings.
Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Following the vote on the report of the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield, the rapporteur and the committee chair will brief journalists on its findings.
Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Míg Hollandia a tengereken bármilyen ellenséggel, akár az egyesült angol–francia hajóhaddal szemben is a siker reményében tudta felvenni a küzdelmet, addig a szárazföldön a francia hadsereggel szemben teljesen reménytelennek látszott a helyzete. A Hollandia elleni támadásban közvetlenül 120 ezer francia katona vett részt, de ha ezekhez hozzászámítjuk a hadtápot, a várak helyőrségét, és a többi határon tartalékban álló egységeket, akkor azt látjuk, hogy Franciaország több mint 300 ezer katonát volt képes mozgósítani, ami Európa messze legnagyobb hadserege volt. A mennyiség mellé minőség is társult, ez a hatalmas hadsereg nem csupán létszámát tekintve volt a legnagyobb, hanem felszerelését, kiképzését, és ellátását tekintve is a legjobbak közé tartozott, nem is beszélve arról, hogy kiválóan képzett tisztek irányították, köztük a kor valószínűleg két legkiválóbb hadvezére, Turenne és Condé. A velük szemben álló holland hadsereg összlétszáma alig haladta meg a 80 ezret, és ebben már benne volt az erődök helyőrsége is. Ütközetben a hollandok alig húszezer katonát tudtak volna csak felvonultatni a franciák ellen.

[...] Bővebben!

Depuis un peu plus d’un mois, la République démocratique du Congo est confrontée à la 17ᵉ épidémie d’Ebola de son histoire. Face à cette nouvelle souche du virus, aucun vaccin n’est encore disponible. Le bilan est déjà très lourd : plus de 200 morts. Nos équipes se sont rendues à Bunia, chef-lieu de la province de l’Ituri et épicentre de l’épidémie. Sur place, médecins et infirmiers racontent leur combat quotidien.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and political group leaders will visit Dublin to prepare for the upcoming Irish presidency of the Council of the EU.

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and political group leaders will visit Dublin to prepare for the upcoming Irish presidency of the Council of the EU.

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and political group leaders will visit Dublin to prepare for the upcoming Irish presidency of the Council of the EU.

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and political group leaders will visit Dublin to prepare for the upcoming Irish presidency of the Council of the EU.

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and political group leaders will visit Dublin to prepare for the upcoming Irish presidency of the Council of the EU.

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2026 - EP

Tax expenditures (TEs) constitute a key instrument in Swiss fiscal policy. Although they are widely used at both the federal and cantonal levels to pursue economic, social, and environmental objectives, their fiscal cost, effectiveness, and distributional consequences remain only partially documented. This report reviews the current state of TE reporting, estimation, evaluation, and reform in Switzerland.
The available evidence suggests that annual revenue forgone from federal TEs amounts to more than CHF 24 billion. However, this figure should be interpreted with great caution. It is based on outdated and incomplete information and likely represents a lower-bound estimate of the true fiscal cost of federal TEs. The latest comprehensive federal TE report was published by the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) in 2011, while many of the underlying revenue forgone estimates were themselves derived from an even older study conducted by the FTA in 2009 using tax return data from the canton of Bern and extrapolated to the rest of the country. More recently, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) published a combination of aggregate and provision-level estimates for 2019 in its 2021 report on the “State Footprint”. The figures included new estimates for some TE provisions, namely for TE granted through the mineral oil tax and further excise taxes as well as the vehicle tax and the national road tax. Yet, most of the data was based on the estimates published in 2011. The report estimated the overall yearly revenue forgone stemming from the use of TEs at more than CHF 24 billion.
The 2011 report provides a detailed discussion of the benchmark classification of TE provisions used in Switzerland. The definition of the benchmark tax system is key for TE policy-making as TEs are defined as deviations from the reference or benchmark tax system. Interestingly, and unlike most of the countries worldwide that rely primarily on existing legislation, the benchmark tax system (BTS) for direct taxes in Switzerland is defined based on two theoretically grounded benchmarks: one based on income and an alternative one based consumption.
The lack of reliable and up-to-date information is particularly concerning given the legal framework governing subsidies and TEs. Article 7(g) of the Federal Act on Financial Aids and Compensation Payments (Subsidies Act, SubA) establishes that, in principle, the use of TEs should be avoided. In its 1986 dispatch, the Federal Council explicitly warned that TEs can undermine tax equity, reduce democratic oversight, and escape systematic scrutiny because their fiscal implications are often difficult to quantify. On this note, Article 5 of the SubA requires the federal government to report on TEs every six years as part of its broader subsidy reporting obligations. This requirement has not been fulfilled. The issue has been repeatedly noted by the Federal Council, Parliament, and the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) and yet, a regular and institutionalized reporting framework has still not been established.
The current estimate of more than CHF 24 billion in TEs on the federal level does not account for the fiscal cost of cantonal TEs. Indeed, at the subnational level, reporting is even more limited with only two significant estimation exercises: a 2011 study conducted by the FTA on personal income-related TEs in the canton of Zug, and a 2025 review of personal income tax (PIT) related TEs published by the canton of Zürich. No canton has established a recurring TE reporting framework. Furthermore, no federal or cantonal estimation exercise currently provides estimates of TEs granted through corporate income tax (CIT), despite the growing importance of tax incentives in the CIT system.
Based on the limited available data from 2011, one can observe that the composition of Swiss TEs is highly concentrated. The ten largest federal provisions account for approximately CHF 16.1 billion, or roughly 63 percent of total reported federal revenue forgone. The largest single provision is the deduction for mandatory second-pillar pension contributions under PIT, estimated at CHF 3.5 billion annually. Other major provisions include the reduced VAT rate on food, plants, and printed products (CHF 2.2 billion), VAT exemptions for real estate transactions and rentals (CHF 2.0 billion), and VAT exemptions for social and health services (CHF 1.9 billion). 
Beyond transparency concerns, the absence of robust information undermines the evaluation of TE effectiveness. Switzerland lags significantly behind international standards in this area. There is currently no formal TE evaluation framework providing guidance on ex-ante assessments, ex post evaluations, governance arrangements, or data-sharing procedures. As a result, policymakers often lack the evidence necessary to determine whether TEs represent value for money and achieve their intended objectives; or are ineffective, too costly or generate unintended distributional and economic effects. The combination of weak reporting practices and limited access to administrative tax data has contributed to a striking lack of official ex-post evaluations.
The situation is somewhat more encouraging regarding ex ante assessments. Federal institutions regularly prepare ad hoc analyses in response to parliamentary requests and legislative initiatives. These assessments frequently provide valuable information on the expected fiscal and economic effects of proposed TE reforms and play an important role in informing political debate. 
TEs remain high-up in the political debate and reform agendas. Recent years have seen numerous legislative initiatives involving reduced VAT rates, PIT deductions, inheritance and gift tax exemptions, and CIT incentives. Examples include the extension of the lower VAT rate for accommodation services until 2035 (just voted down by the National Council and now with the Council of States), repeated debates on the deductibility of childcare expenses and Pillar 3a contributions, and discussions surrounding cantonal inheritance and gift tax exemptions. In the CIT field, the introduction of patent boxes and research and development (R&D) super-deductions at the cantonal level illustrates the dynamics of TE policy-making involving different tiers of government as this has been triggered by the Federal Act on Tax Reform and AHV Financing (TRAF).

Peter Hongler is a professor of tax law at the University of St. Gallen. 
Agustin Redonda is a Senior Fellow with the Council on Economic Policies (CEP), where he leads CEP’s work on
tax expenditures and tax incentives. He is also the co-founder and co-director of the Tax Expenditures Lab, which
hosts the Global Tax Expenditures Database (GTED) and the Global Tax Expenditures Transparency Index (GTETI).