The Sound of Economics

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel’s Pascal Saint-Amans and Roel Dom to talk taxes. What happened to the OECD global minimum tax and the digital services levy debate in the wake of Washington’s turn against international agreements? How is the European Union gathering resources for its next budget? What is the difference between a tax and a levy – and why does it matter? Tax policy is social policy, and Bruegel’s new EU Tax Observatory project will shine a light on what’s going on.
Relevant Research:

Christie, R. (2021) ‘Do robots dream of paying taxes?’, Policy Brief, 05 October, Bruegel, available at: https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/do-robots-dream-paying-taxes

Darvas, Z., R. Dom and M. Lappe (2025) 'CORE concerns: why a turnover based levy is wrong for the EU budget’, First Glance, 22 July, Bruegel, available at: https://www.bruegel.org/first-glance/core-concerns-why-turnover-based-levy-wrong-eu-budget

Dom, R. (2026) 'How the global minimum tax amendments could reshape Europe’s tax incentives', Analysis, 14 January, Bruegel, available at: https://doi.org/10.64153/WEHR5625

Dom, R., C. Greppi-Maturana and P. Saint-Amans (2025) ‘Shifting priorities, slow progress: an analysis of EU tax recommendations,’ Working Paper 29/2025, Bruegel, available at: https://doi.org/10.64153/SIZA8089

Saint-Amans, P. (2026) ‘With Trump, what is left of the global minimum tax?’, Newsletter, 19 January, Bruegel, available at: https://www.bruegel.org/newsletter/trump-what-left-global-minimum-tax

Saint-Amans, P. (2026) 'Has the global minimum tax survived Trump?' Analysis, 13 January, Bruegel, available at: https://doi.org/10.64153/HIUN6608

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel’s Ignacio García Bercero and Ben McWilliams to talk about the evolution of the European Union’s carbon border adjustment mechanism, known as CBAM. When will companies start paying? Which countries and sectors will be hit the hardest? And how will cross-border carbon levies work for electricity markets, given how hard it is to trace emissions to electrons? We discuss what it means to crack down on carbon leakage and how the EU can make the most of its new tools going forward.
Relevant Research:

CBAM and carbon pricing: forging fair paths to climate stability, Bruegel Event, 22 May 2024

McWilliams, B. R. Stubbe and G. Zachmann (2025) 'The case for delaying the application of the EU’s carbon border levy to electricity', Analysis, 19 November, Bruegel, available at https://doi.org/10.64153/ZFMB9781

Zachmann, G. and McWilliams, B. (2020) 'A European carbon border tax: much pain, little gain', Policy Contribution 05/2020, Bruegel, available at https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/european-carbon-border-tax-much-pain-little-gain

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Yuyun Zhan is joined by Bruegel Senior Fellow Alicia García-Herrero and Jürgen Matthes of the German Economic Institute to discuss a growing concern for Europe’s economy: the undervaluation of Yuan, the Chinese currency and its impact on European competitiveness.
Is China’s price advantage the result of productivity and innovation, or of deeper structural distortions such as subsidies, overcapacity, and currency management? And what policy options does Europe realistically have when existing trade defence instruments seem ill-suited to address economy-wide price and exchange-rate effects?
Relevant research:

Matthes, Jürgen, 2025, Yuan Undervaluation against the Euro: Unfair Cost Advantages for China?!, IW-Report, Nr. 36, Köln

García-Herrero, A., T. Storella and J. Xu (2025) ‘European companies operating in China: from digging in to rethinking their presence’, Working Paper 14/2025, Bruegel

This episode is part of the ZhōngHuá Mundus series of The Sound of Economics. ZhōngHuá Mundus is a newsletter by Bruegel, bringing you monthly analysis of China in the world, as seen from Europe. Sign up now to receive it in your mailbox!

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie and Bruegel’s Zsolt Darvas discuss the European Union’s next seven-year financial plan with MEP Johan Van Overtveldt, chairman of the European Parliament’s budget committee. Negotiators have until the end of 2027 to figure out roughly €2 trillion in funding, with the parliament and member states not expected to sit down together until next year. How can the EU pay for public goods? Will countries and regions be willing to overhaul the way they finance farmers and other key sectors? Meanwhile, the EU may need to revisit proposals to borrow against the Russian central bank’s frozen assets, held at Euroclear, within two years. The next budget will need to accommodate support for Ukraine as well as Europe’s current mandates.
Related research:

Christie, R., J. F. Kirkegaard and Z. Darvas (2025) 'What should Europe pay for?', Podcast, 01 October, Bruegel, available at: https://www.bruegel.org/podcast/what-should-europe-pay

Christie, R., J. Van Overtvedlt and N. Véron (2024) 'What to do with frozen Russian assets', Podcast, 21 February, Bruegel, available at:  https://www.bruegel.org/podcast/what-do-frozen-russian-assets

Darvas, Z., Dom, R., Lappe, M., P. Saint-Amans and A. Steinbach (2025) 'Bigger, better funded and focused on public goods: how to revamp the European Union budget', Blueprint 37, Bruegel, available at https://www.bruegel.org/book/bigger-better-funded-and-focused-public-goods-how-revamp-european-union-budget

In this episode of The Sound of Economics, host Rebecca Christie sits down with Bruegel’s Mario Mariniello and Bertin Martens to discuss technology regulation in the European Union. Brussels hopes to make its complicated rulebook more fit for purpose with digital “omnibus” plans, intended to streamline and improve oversight. But artificial intelligence, data collection and relations with United States tech giants are tricky subjects that may not be so easily addressed. How should companies manage data? What are the consequences for EU citizens, particularly those from minority language groups? And what kind of innovation can policy encourage in Europe? New technologies move fast, and the EU  will need to balance precaution with experimentation.
Related research:

Christie, R., Cipollone, P., Hernández de Cos, P. (2025) 'Digital euro: why now and what's next', Podcast, 18 June, Bruegel, available at https://www.bruegel.org/podcast/digital-euro-why-now-and-whats-next

Mariniello, M. (2025) 'The European Commission’s Digital Omnibus could increase risks, not growth', First Glance, 13 November, Bruegel, available at https://www.bruegel.org/first-glance/european-commissions-digital-omnibus-could-increase-risks-not-growth 

Mariniello, M. (2025) 'Efficiency and distribution in the European Union’s digital deregulation push', Policy Brief, 20 November, Bruegel, available at https://www.bruegel.org/policy-brief/efficiency-and-distribution-european-unions-digital-deregulation-push

Martens, B. (2025) 'The European Union needs more than the digital omnibus to make digital services competitive', Analysis, 8 December, Bruegel, available at https://doi.org/10.64153/NIRG1605