EU News Monthly August 2024

EU News Monthly , 31. Juli
Von der Leyen will remain the head of the European Commission. In a secret election, the European Parliament confirmed Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission for another five-year term.

The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad are being held in Paris, France.

In the second quarter of 2024, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.3% in the EU, compared with the previous quarter. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.7%.

In 2023, the expected average duration of working life for 15-year-olds in the EU was 36.9 years. The highest were recorded in the Netherlands (43.7 years), and Sweden (43.1 years). By contrast, the lowest working life durations were recorded in Romania (32.2 years) and Italy (32.9 years).

In 2023, EU renewable sources beat fossil fuels by a wide margin in electricity production. According to preliminary data from Eurostat, renewables already accounted for 44.7% of electricity production in the EU in 2023 (a 12% increase in production compared to 2022), while fossil sources supplied "only" 32.5% (a year-on-year decrease of 19.7%).