Press releases

The President of the ifo Institute, Clemens Fuest, sees a need for improvement in the European Commission’s plans for debt rules in the EU. “Reform should focus on fiscal discipline and member states’ national ownership. In the Commission’s current proposal, this is only partly the case,” Fuest says. Allowing more debt when states give greater weight to EU policy priorities in their budgets might conflict with the goal of sustainable fiscal policy, he explained in an essay in the new EconPol Forum.

Deutschland liegt mit durchschnittlich 1,0 Tagen Homeoffice pro Woche im Mittelfeld in Europa. In Österreich sind es 0,8 Tage. Mehr von zuhause wird in Unternehmen im Vereinigten Königreich gearbeitet (1,5 Tage), Frankreich und Italien liegen mit 0,6 und 0,7 Tagen deutlich darunter. In anderen westlichen Ländern liegt Kanada mit 1,7 Tagen vorne, gefolgt von den USA mit 1,4 Tagen. In Australien arbeiten die Beschäftigte durchschnittlich 1,3 Tage von zuhause.

Avec une moyenne de 0,6 jour par semaine, la France se classe parmi les nations les moins adeptes du télétravail en Europe. Elle partage ce choix avec l'Italie (également 0,6 jour par semaine). Les salariés allemands et britanniques sont davantage enclins à travailler depuis chez eux (1,0 et 1,5 jour respectivement). Le Canada mène le peloton des pays occidentaux comptant les télétravailleurs les plus assidus (1,7 jour). Aux États-Unis, les salariés travaillent depuis leur domicile en moyenne 1,4 jour par semaine.

In the United States, the average time spent working from home is 1.4 days per week. In the United Kingdom, employees work from home for 1.5 days per week on average. In Australia, the average is 1.3 days. The leader among the English-speaking countries is Canada, at 1.7 days per week. In other Western countries, people spend much less time working from home. The average in Germany is 1.0 days, while in France and Italy, it is just 0.6 and 0.7 days per week. This is the finding of a survey of full-time employees conducted by the ifo Institute in a total of 34 countries.

ifo trade expert Lisandra Flach recommends quickly concluding the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur in Latin America. “Ratification of the agreement is key for both Europe and Mercosur to broaden their supply chains and reduce dependence on China,” Flach says ahead of the EU-Latin America summit. China is now Mercosur’s most important trading partner, she adds, while the EU has become a great deal less important in recent years.