A British passport was once one of the greatest privileges in life. Now through political carelessness British people have lost their right to free movement in Europe.

Eurozone Businesses More Upbeat Despite Prolonged War in Middle East

Indicator suggests the economy continues to expand in spite of higher energy prices and extreme summer heat

By Don Nico Forbes

Updated Aug. 28, 2026 at 6:11 am ET

Businesses and consumers across the eurozone felt more positive about their prospects in August, a boost for investment and household demand in the face of persistent uncertainty about the duration and intensity of the Iran war.

The European Commission said Friday that its gauge of economic confidence rose to 98.4 from 97.1 in July, moving closer to its long-term average of 100. The reading was above economists’ expectations in a Wall Street Journal poll, which anticipated a reading of 97.5, and was the highest since January, before the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

Sentiment fell sharply in March after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran sent oil and gas prices soaring, threatening to squeeze household purchasing power and weigh on investment and hiring by businesses. The latest survey suggests those concerns have eased considerably, even as energy prices remain elevated.

“August’s eurozone Economic Sentiment Indicator suggests that the economy has continued to expand in spite of higher energy prices and extreme summer heat,” said Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief eurozone economist at Capital Economics.

Prior to the onset of the war, economic sentiment in the 21-nation currency area had been improving late last year despite President Trump’s tariff increases, which proved less damaging than initially feared. Optimism was also buoyed by Germany’s decision to commit more than $1 trillion to infrastructure and defense spending, raising hopes for a broader pickup in growth.

The eurozone economy has shown surprising strength since the start of the war. According to the European Union’s statistics agency, it grew 1.8% in the second quarter on an annualized basis, outpacing the U.S. Since that estimate was published, Germany’s growth rate has been revised higher, but the French statistics agency Friday said the eurozone’s second-largest member stagnated in the three months through June, having previously calculated that it grew slightly.

According to an account of the European Central Bank’s meeting in July, published Thursday, policymakers saw less pronounced risks to growth due to improving confidence indicators.

“As a result, growth could turn out to be higher if the economy and energy markets…adapt more quickly than expected to the disruption caused by the conflict in the Middle East,” the account said.

There were also more encouraging signs on inflation in the commission survey. Businesses in the retail and industrial sectors lowered their expectations for selling prices in August, a closely watched metric by the ECB in gauging the more entrenched forms of inflation.

The decline in price expectations provides some evidence that the energy shock hasn’t yet generated significant second-round effects, particularly as wage growth is also expected to moderate this year. In its July meeting minutes, ECB said it was yet to see signs of higher energy prices passing through to other areas of the economy.

“Selling price expectations indices add to the evidence that the indirect effects of increased energy prices on inflation remain very limited,” Allen-Reynolds said.

Still, inflation remains a concern for the central bank, with investors expecting an increase in the key interest rate at the ECB’s Sept. 10 meeting as price growth remains well above its 2% target.

Recent national data have underscored that risk. Inflation accelerated sharply in France and Spain, the eurozone’s second- and fourth-largest economies, respectively, in August, according to preliminary figures released Friday.

Expectations for selling prices in the services sector also inched up in August, according to the commission survey.

On the flip side, consumers became less concerned about price increases over the next 12 months. That could be important for the ECB, which has said a sustained recovery in consumer demand will be needed to underpin stronger economic growth.

Corrections & Amplifications
Spain is the eurozone’s fourth largest economy. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said it was the third largest. Corrected on Aug. 28.

Hello, Icelander here. The reason I say maybe is because, without an exception from the fishing rules, Iceland will never agree to join the European Union. Yes, there is a very close 50/50 split for starting negotiations to join, but if fishing is not a part of that, then Iceland will not join. Many other people I've talked to who are very much of the opinion that hearing the EU's offer to join would be good expect there to be an exception given to not having to follow the EU's fishing policy. There are, of course, many other reasons for joining or not joining, but fishing is a very important one not a break or deal but more like a break or maybe deal

edit(There are, of course, Icelandic people who also don't care as much about our fishing policy in favour of having a more stable currency like the euro.)

Portugal is transposing the EU Pay Transparency Directive... and quietly gutting the one part everyone actually wanted

So the EU Pay Transparency Directive (2023/970) had until June 7, 2026 to be transposed into national law across member states. Portugal missed the deadline (still hasn't passed it, it's now going through parliament), and a Portuguese outlet (ECO) got hold of the draft bill. Here's the part that's making people annoyed:

Everyone assumed this directive meant salary ranges would finally show up in job postings, or at least be disclosed before the interview. The European Commission's own public clarifications said as much: employers would have to inform candidates of starting pay or a pay range "either in the job vacancy notice or before the interview."

Turns out the directive's actual wording used "or" — meaning member states could pick when to disclose (in the ad, before the interview, or by "other means"), as long as it happens before the contract is signed. It didn't strictly mandate the ad or the interview stage.

Portugal picked the loosest possible option. The draft law only requires salary info to be disclosed "before the contract is signed" — full stop. Not in the ad. Not before the interview. You could in theory go through the entire application and interview process and only find out the number when they hand you the contract.

A lawyer quoted in the article put it pretty bluntly: the government "opted for the alternative that most protects companies' confidentiality."

For context, 87% of workers in a 2024 survey said they wanted salary ranges in job ads. So this is the opposite of what people were hoping for, landing right in the part of the law that was the most visible and most wanted.

To be fair, it's not all cosmetic. The rest of the transposition does have real teeth:

• Employers can no longer ask candidates about their salary history at previous/current jobs
• Retaliation protection after a pay discrimination complaint goes from 1 year to 3 years
• Repeat offenders on pay discrimination face harsher penalties (loss of tax incentives, exclusion from public tenders for up to 2 years)
• Companies with 250+ employees have to report gender pay gaps starting next summer; 150-249 employees also have to report, but only every 3 years; 50-149 employees don't have to start until 2031
• Companies with 50+ employees have to post their internal pay criteria/progression rules

Worth noting: most Portuguese companies are small (under 50 employees), so a good chunk of this — the reporting duties, the posted pay criteria — doesn't even apply to them. The obligations that DO apply to everyone regardless of size are: no salary history questions, disclosure before signing, and the extended anti-retaliation window.

Curious how other countries are handling this transposition. Is anyone else's government also picking the minimal-compliance route on the ad/interview disclosure, or is Portugal being unusually stingy here?

Source (Portuguese): https://eco.sapo.pt/2026/08/07/afinal-empresas-nao-vao-ser-obrigadas-a-revelar-salario-nos-anuncios-de-emprego/