EU ASYLUM LAW: EU granted 500,000 people asylum protection in 2017

EU member states as well as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland granted protection status to 538,000 asylum seekers in 2017, according to new data released by Eurostat recently.

Another 24,000 refugees were resettled in the region last year.

Last year's asylum seeker figures represent a 25% drop from 2016, when 710,000 asylum seekers qualified for international protection in the bloc.

Two forms of protection are offered under EU law: refugee status — for people fleeing persecution, and subsidiary protection — for those who face serious harm if they return to their country of origin, and who don’t qualify as refugees. But protection may also be given for humanitarian reasons, such as on grounds of ill health or if the person is an unaccompanied minor.

Around a third of such asylum seekers in Europe came from Syria last year, followed by Afghan citizens (19%) and Iraqis (12%).

Note EU-Digest:The Eurostat figures in this report are not very clear. 

According to the data listed in this re, a third (33.%) of asylum seekers come from Syria, followed by Afghanistan with 19% and Iraq with 12%. Added together 64%. 

Where do the rest of the asylum seekers (36%) come from? 

Probably a large number of them from Africa, who come to Libya by illegal means to make the crossing to Europe. In our  opinion, these are mainly "economic migrants" and not asylum seekers, just as most of them from Afghanistan and Iraq. It is also striking that many of the asylum seekers are young and able men . The EU and the governments of the Member States must, as far as their migrants and asylum policies are concerned do a far better job, Right now it can only be qualified as being barely functional.

READ MORE: EU granted 500,000 people asylum protection in 2017 | Euronews

EU: Almost one - third of EU GDP spent on social protection

Since 2010 social protection expenditure in the European Union (EU) has increased slightly.

From 28.6% of GDP in 2010 to 29.0 % in 2015 according to data from the Eurostat the Statistical office of the EU.

In 2015, the EU's 28 Member States earmarked €200 billion of public expenditure for 'defence'. This is equivalent to only 1.4% of GDP.

By contrast, Washington's military expenditure "only" amounts to 3.5 percent of GDP, which is often questioned because no exact dollar figure is ever given In China, that falls to 2.1 percent. Israel spent around $23 billion on its armed forces in 2014 and SIPRI estimated that this amounted to 5.2 percent of its GDP

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EU: R&D expenditure remained stable in 2016 at just over 2% of GDP

R&D is a major driver of innovation, and R&D expenditure and intensity are two of the key indicators used to monitor resources devoted to science and technology worldwide.

In 2016, the Member States of the European Union (EU) spent all together over €300 billion on Research & Development (R&D). The R&D intensity, i.e. R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, remained stable at 2.03%

in 2016. Ten years ago (2006), R&D intensity was 1.76%.

With respect to other major economies, R&D intensity in the EU was much lower than in South Korea (4.23% in 2015), Japan (3.29% in 2015) and the United States (2.79% in 2015), while it was about the same level as in China (2.07% in 2015) and much higher than in Russia (1.10% in 2015) and Turkey (0.88% in 2015). In order to provide a stimulus to the EU’s competitiveness, an increase by 2020 of the R&D intensity to 3% in the EU is one of the five headline targets of the Europe 2020 strategy.

The business enterprise sector continues to be the main sector in which R&D expenditure was spent, accounting for 65% of total R&D conducted in 2016, followed by the higher education sector (23%), the government sector (112%) and the private non-profit sector (1%).

This information on Research and Development in the EU is published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

EU-Digest

EU Employment: Eurozone Dec unemployment falls to 4-year low: Eurostat

Eurozone unemployment fell to its lowest level in more than four years in December, official data showed Tuesday, beating forecasts from analysts worried about the global economic outlook.

The Eurostat statistics agency said unemployment in the 19-nation eurozone dropped to 10.4 percent in December from 10.5 percent in November, its lowest rate since September 2011.

Analysts had expected the December figure to be unchanged at 10.5 percent, taking into account the sharp slowdown in China and the huge turmoil on global financial markets.

They said the report was encouraging but still not enough to suggest the economy was back on track and the European Central Bank will have to continue its massive stimulus program.

By headcount, there were some 16.75 million jobless in the eurozone in December, down 49,000 from November and 1.5 million less compared with December 2014.

Greece and Spain continued to have the highest jobless rates, at 24.5 percent and 20.8 percent, while economic powerhouse Germany was on 4.5 percent, compared with 10.2 percent in France where the economy continues to struggle.

A calculation method used by the German authorities resulted in an unemployment rate for Germany in December of 6.3 percent, data showed Tuesday.

Read more: Eurozone Dec unemployment falls to 4-year low: Eurostat — EU - European Union business news and information | eubusiness.com

Euro Zone Deficit Down in 2010

According to data released by Eurostat, the European Union's (EU) statistics office, the euro zone's 2010 budget gap amounted to 6.0% of GDP, down from 6.3% in 2009. All countries in the 17-nation group, with the exception of Germany, Luxembourg, Austria and Ireland, improved their budget balances, although debt rose in 16 of the 17; the only exception was Estonia. Public debt amounted to 85.1%, up from a 2009 balance of 79.3%.

In comparison, the US budget deficit is estimated by the IMF to be around 10.76 percent of GDP and Public debt more than 90%

EU-Digest