Tourism is one of the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. Travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic have decimated the tourism industry, a major player in the EU economy.  

Facts and Figures

The United States accounts for 15% of global emissions. Climate change is a global challenge that requires decisive action from every country around the world. Biden will rejoin the Paris Agreement and use every tool of American foreign policy to push the rest of the world to raise their ambitions alongside the United States. A Biden Administration will:

Re-enter the Paris Agreement and lead a major diplomatic push to raise the ambitions of countries’ climate targets. To catalyze this effort, Biden will, in his first 100 days in office:

Even if the U.S. business restart goes reasonably well, and the virus remains largely contained, a surge in business failures and bankruptcies is likely and will impede any economic recovery. Too many of the unemployed won’t have jobs to go back to. New businesses will ultimately form and fill the void, but that will take time.

1. Albania: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution from industrial and domestic effluents; loss of biodiversity due to lack of resources for sound environmental management.
2. Andorra: deforestation; overgrazing of mountain meadows contributes to soil erosion; air pollution; wastewater treatment and solid waste disposal.

Countries in Support

1. Austria
2. Denmark
3. Finland
4. Italy
5. Latvia
6. Luxembourg
7. Netherlands
8. Portugal 
9. Spain 
10. Sweden
11. France
12. Germany
13. Greece
14. Ireland
15. Slovakia
16. Slovenia
17. Malta

Countries outside the Appeal

The most high-profile summit will be the EU27-China leaders’ meeting in Leipzig, Germany, on 14 September that is being organized under the auspices of the rotating German EU Council presidency. This unprecedented format is expected to be attended not only by Xi but by all twenty-seven EU leaders. Initiated by Merkel, the intention is to showcase European unity on China and to allow Xi to hear directly from all of Europe’s leaders at once. The formal summit agenda is expected to cover three broad sets of issues:

The global consulting industry is worth a combined $160 billion, with Europe representing a 29% share of that. However, with the coronavirus having pushed many of the world’s economies to the brink of a recession, clients are delaying projects, decreasing their scope or cancelling them all together. As a result, the revenue of the global and European consulting market is taking a big hit. In 2019, Europe’s consulting generated about U.S.$ 45 billion but in 2020 the forecast is for U.S.$ 32.2 billion, down 28%

Share of the European Consulting Markets

More than 33 million jobless Americans have now made claims in the past seven weeks. The unemployment rate soared to 14.7% in April.

Jobs lost in April by Sectors

In less than 60 days, Germany will be taking over the presidency of the European Union. The German presidency’s agenda will be dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic and its grave consequences for social cohesion, the economy and the idea of a borderless Europe. Germany has to take the opportunity to help shape the ‘new start for Europe’.  The current crisis, which has pushed the European economies into economic and societal distress, requires decisive handling by Germany.  

Subject at the forefront of the Council presidency

Real GDP Growth Rate Forecast 2020

Group 1

1. Poland: -4.3%
2. Luxembourg: -5.4%
3. Austria: -5.5%
4. Malta: -5.8%
5. Denmark: -5.9%

Group 2

1. Romania: -6%
2. Sweden: -6.1%
3. Czech Republic: -6.2%
4. Finland: -6.3%
5. Germany: -6.5%
6. Slovakia: -6.7%
7. Portugal: -6.8%
8. Netherlands: -6.8%
9. Estonia: -6.9%

Group 3