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Fiscal drag in theory and in practice: A European perspective
No full textThis paper presents a comprehensive characterization of “fiscal drag”—the increase in tax revenue that occurs when nominal tax bases grow but nominal parameters of progressive tax legislation are not updated accordingly—across 21 European countries using a microsimulation approach. First, we estimate tax-to-base elasticities, showing that the progressivity built in each country’s personal income tax system induces elasticities around 1.7–2 for many countries, indicating a potential for large fiscal drag effects. We unpack these elasticities to show stark heterogeneity in their underlying mechanisms (tax brackets or tax deductions and credits), across income sources (labor, capital, self-employment, public benefits), and across the individual income distribution. Second, we extend the analysis beyond these elasticities to study fiscal drag in practice between 2019 and 2023, incorporating observed income growth and legislative changes. We quantify the actual impact of fiscal drag and the extent to which government policies have offset it, either through indexation or other reforms. Our results provide new insights into the fiscal and distributional effects of fiscal drag in Europe, as well as useful statistics for modeling public finances.JRC.B.2 - Fiscal Policy Analysi
Analysing the Effects of Inflation on the SME Definition
No full textIn recent years, events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine have disrupted global markets and supply chains, causing price fluctuations across multiple sectors. This situation raises concerns about the relevance of the current set of financial thresholds that define SMEs. The analysis considers a various methods and data sources to estimate the impact of inflation on the number of enterprises excluded from the SME category. Overall, the affected SME population is relatively small. At the EU level, approximately 0.06% of enterprises were affected in 2023. Despite this small percentage, there is a noticeable trend across nearly all Member States, with the proportion increasing over time.JRC.S.3 - Science for Modelling, Monitoring and Evaluatio
Job quality and the platformisation of regular work: A cross-country analysis of digital monitoring and algorithmic management in the EU
No full textDigitalisation and the increasing use of digital platforms for the coordination of work processes in an algorithmic way can have deep implications for the world of work. While digital monitoring and algorithmic management have been a paradigmatic feature of work in the gig economy, they are increasingly permeating the regular economy across sectors and occupations, a phenomenon that can be termed the 'platformisation' of regular work. Besides potential efficiency gains, these new data-driven managerial and control structures can have implications for workers' well-being. The AIM-WORK survey, conducted by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in 2024-2025 in all EU Member States, is currently the most comprehensive representative survey on the issue. This paper uses this novel evidence to examine the implications of the platformisation of work for job quality across EU countries. Our findings show that some forms of platformisation are associated with reduced worker autonomy and work intensification. In contrast to intellectual jobs, platformised workers performing manual routine tasks are more commonly routinised and monitored. These negative associations are almost exclusively concentrated in Central-Eastern Member States, with Western EU countries generally showing neutral job quality outcomes. We argue that this stark contrast suggests that labour market institutions are key in preventing detrimental effects of platformisation of regular work on European labour markets.JRC.B.6 - Industrial strategy, skills and technology transfe
A Novel Approach to Regionalize Country-Level GDP Projections
No full textSocioeconomic projections are policy support tools that are often limited to country-level data, making them insufficient for policy areas that require a more nuanced, sub-national perspective. For granular geographical analyses in a multicountry setting, international organizations often rely on straightforward regionalization techniques, such as assuming that the observed regional shares remain constant over the projection period. This approach fails to capture the varying economic performances between regions, making the resulting regional projections unrealistic. In this paper, we propose a novel regionalization method for GDP projections based on (1) changes in population and (2) econometrically estimated factors of regional GDP per capita growth. We test our approach in the EU27 Member States for the period 2000–2019 by downscaling observed GDP from national to regional (NUTS3) level. Results show that our model substantially outperforms alternative regionalization techniques by improving the skill scores up to 18%. The performance of the proposed methodology increases for longer estimation and projection periods. Our regionalization approach shows the benefit of incorporating demographic dynamics and regional growth factors to regionalize national GDP values, especially to downscale long-term GDP projections.JRC.B.3 - Territorial Developmen
International Spectroradiometer Intercomparison 2025
Full text linkThe International Spectroradiometer Intercomparison (ISRC) is a metrological event in the field of solar radiation measurements. The ISRC is managed by the European Solar Test Installation (ESTI) laboratories of the European Commission Joint Research Centre on an annual basis. The 13th edition was held in June 2025 at the Joint Research Centre site of Ispra, Italy.
The event consisted of a week of uninterrupted measurements of the solar radiation by the instruments of different participants, with the ESTI instrumentation acting as reference for the performance evaluation of spectroradiometers and pyranometers. Spectroradiometers were assessed also using the artificial light source of Apollo, a large area steady state solar simulator of ESTI, and a QTH standard lamp on a spectroradiometer calibration bench.
Starting in 2011, the first ISRC focused primarily on photovoltaic research and applications. Over the years, the range of interested participants has gradually expanded, encompassing not only laboratories in the PV field, but also space agencies, national metrological institutes (NMI), university and research groups, manufacturers of measurement equipment operating in the fields of climatology and meteorology.
The physical quantities measured during the campaign were the broadband solar irradiance and the spectrally resolved spectral irradiance (direct and global normal).
The present report summarizes the results of the Intercomparison, divided in different sections: in the first section the broadband irradiance sensors are presented; the second, third and fourth are dedicated to the performance indicators of the spectroradiometers in outdoor conditions using natural sunlight, indoor using the Apollo solar simulator and indoor against the QTH standard lamp; the fifth contains a summary of the prototype instruments present at the Intercomparison.
Prototype instruments were not comparable directly with the reference instruments; their interest in participating at the ISRC was mainly to collect data for further development of the instruments or validation of mathematical models.JRC.C.2 - Energy Efficiency and Renewable
IACS Community Exchange (ICE) conference 2025
Full text linkThe Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) Community Exchange (ICE) conference is an annual, in-person event that provides a platform for Member States to share best practices and address common challenges related to the implementation of IACS and its quality assessments, which are core elements of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The conference promotes open dialogue between the European Commission and the Member States, with the aim of exchanging knowledge and identifying technical solutions that accommodate requests for simplification and reduction of administrative burden for national and regional administrations and farmers, while ensuring compliance with all regulatory requirements.
The 2nd IACS Community Exchange (ICE) Conference was held in Reims, France, from 9 to 11 September 2025. It was organised by DG JRC in cooperation with DG AGRI and the French paying agency Agence de services et de paiement (ASP). The conference brought together around 400 participants representing all Member States and five candidate countries, as well as the European Commission (DG JRC, DG AGRI and DG DEFIS), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Environment Agency (EEA). Representatives from more than 20 private companies and research organisations also attended. This ensured the involvement of all stakeholders in the implementation of IACS, connecting technological innovations with operational applications in agricultural monitoring.
Based on the insights provided by more than 60 presentations, the participants engaged in fruitful open discussions during the main sessions and in the extended networking moments where the exchange of ideas continued. The 11 sessions of the conference covered all the main IACS technical aspects, particularly the Area Monitoring System (AMS) and the Land Parcel Information System (LPIS). The main topics discussed included a summary of results of the first two years of the new CAP, the potential synergies with other European Union (EU) and national policies through the sharing and reuse of IACS data, AI-driven LPIS innovations, new Earth Observation (EO)-based agricultural monitoring solutions, study cases of AMS implementation presented by the Member States with additional input from research, and the challenges faced by EU candidate countries in setting up their IACS.
The first part of this document summarises the key topics presented in each session, outlining emerging solutions and reporting on the ideas debated during the open discussions. The second part contains the abstracts of all the presentations shared by their authors. The document's primary purpose is to inform those unable to attend the conference and to provide interested parties with a reference document containing the main outcomes. Both the ICE conference and this report are the joint endeavour of the IACS community of practice, promoted and coordinated by the JRC.JRC.D.5 - Food Securit
Are consumers ready to accept gene-edited crops? Evidence from a choice experiment for CRISPR-edited tomatoes in Spain
No full textAim of the study: Understand consumer acceptability and willingness to pay for CRISPR-edited food and explore how production method, production origin and pesticide reduction affected their acceptance.
Area of Study: Aragón (Spain)
Material and Methods: We used a pre-registered online survey with a discrete choice experiment (DCE) implemented on 521 consumers. Consumers choose their preferred option when purchasing tomatoes, which differed in the breeding method (traditional vs. CRISPR), price, pesticide reduction, production method (conventional vs organic), and origin (European Union (EU) vs. non-EU). As context information for the analysis, we elicit consumers’ perceptions, knowledge and trust regarding different breeding technologies (including gene modification and editing) and food technology neophobia.
Main Results: Spanish consumers generally trust EU food safety but display high neophobia towards new food technologies, with limited knowledge of plant breeding methods. They also prefer EU-sourced and organically produced tomatoes, with solid support for those produced while reducing pesticide use. However, CRISPR-edited tomatoes face considerable resistance, with consumers requiring a discount to accept them. This price discount could be eliminated if the CRISPR-edited tomato is grown with at least a 67% reduction in pesticide use.
Research highlights: While the proposal for the regulation of CRISPR provides a valuable entry point to enable its adoption in the EU, findings indicate that Spanish consumers are not ready to accept the CRISPR-edited tomatoes at face value, requiring additional assurances or specific benefits before acceptance.JRC.D.4 - Economics of Food System
Implementation of Commission Recommendation on Energy Storage in the Member States
Full text linkThe European Union is committed to decarbonising its energy sector to meet climate goals and boost energy security. Integrating renewable energy requires enhanced system flexibility for managing supply-demand variability effectively. Energy storage technologies are crucial for providing this flexibility, ensuring grid stability, and supporting electrification across sectors. The European Commission's Recommendation on Energy Storage (C/2023/1729) outlines actions for Member States to boost flexibility and storage deployment, focusing on financial instruments, market integration, and flexibility needs assessments.
This report offers a detailed overview of energy storage development in EU Member States, analysing policy, regulatory, and market frameworks. It explores various aspects of a framework for energy storage deployment, including legal definitions, national strategies, market participation, and storage as an alternative to network expansion. It also discusses financial support mechanisms, network charges, energy taxation, and measures to expedite storage deployment in areas with limited interconnections. Overall, the report provides an in-depth examination of the current energy storage landscape in the EU-27, reflecting the implementation status of selected elements of the EC Recommendation.
The report covers the implementation status of the EC Recommendation as of April 2025, with periodic updates planned to capture advancements in EU-27. It is a deliverable from amendment No.2 to AA N° 36054 between DG ENER and JRC.JRC.C.3 - Energy Security, Distribution and Market
Updating GHG emission values of biofuels and biomass fuels in Annex V & VI of Directive (EU) 2018/2001
Full text linkThis report provides the updates of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions values for typical values of biofuels and bioenergy bioliquids from Annex V, and biomass fuels from Annex VI of the Directive (EU) 2018/2001 (RED II) (European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2018). This report also provides detailed information on the main changes in the input values, new assumptions, new pathways, and updated final results for the most relevant pathways according to the current market scenario.
The updates related to the inputs data include the following:
• energy inputs data applying to all pathways,
• agro-inputs for biomass feedstock cultivation and
• more recent Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors.
In addition, updates regarding the pathways themselves are handled, in particular:
• biogas pathways, updating methane emissions and adding sewage sludge as a new feedstock,
• biofuels produced from animal fats and used cooking oil and
• lignocellulosic-based (advanced) biofuels (previously called 2nd generation biofuels).
The changes do not lead to significant changes in the overall GHG emission values compared to the former values. However, the report provides insights on the calculations, clarification on the interpretation of the results and guidelines on how to use disaggregated values. Finally, the report integrates findings regarding N2O emissions from agricultural activities and biomethane fugitive emissions within the biogas supply chain.JRC.C.2 - Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Using free remotely sensed data to assess war-induced damage to agricultural cultivation: Evidence from Ukraine
No full textWe use remotely sensed data to measure conflict-induced field damage in Ukraine 2022-24 for about 10,000 village councils (VCs). Compared to media-based indicators (ACLED), these suggest higher conflict incidence in less densely populated VCs, consistent with official data. Use of annual crop maps for 2019-24 to estimate a difference in differences (DID) model at VC level suggests conflict significantly and persistently reduced cropped area in directly affected and neighboring VCs. Predicted conflict effects are three times larger and differently distributed for image as compared to media-based indicators, suggesting remotely sensed conflict measures may usefully complement media-based ones, especially in rural areas.JRC.D.5 - Food Securit