EU

The euro area labor market showed modest improvement in January 2026. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to a record low of 6.1%, down from 6.2% in December 2025 and 6.3% a year earlier.

Capital mobilization is the only lever that can boost productivity, increase revenues, strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy and increase its resilience.

Microchips, biotechnology, robotics and artificial intelligence will be excluded from the list of “strategic sectors” to be (partially) purchased from European manufacturers. Only heavy industrial goods such as mild steel and cement, aluminum and plastics used in the construction and automotive industries remain. These goods will have an advantage in the awarding of government contracts.

The heads of parliaments of the states of the “Odessa Triangle”, which includes Moldova, Romania and Ukraine, advocated further strengthening of sanctions pressure on Russia, in particular with regard to its “shadow fleet”.

UPDATED. Moldova will be the subject of a special briefing on the European Union enlargement, which will be held on Wednesday, March 4, in Berlin. The meeting will focus on the progress of the country’s EU accession negotiations and reforms after the 2025 parliamentary elections.

The European Commission will organize an information day for the European research ecosystem on March 18, 2026 on the Horizon Europe calls for proposals.

The Agency for National Research and Development (ANCD) announces the launch of public discussions on the fifth call for bilateral Moldovan-Polish projects within the Innoglobo program.

Within the project “Promoting Inclusive Green Transition in the Republic of Moldova”, implemented by UNDP, Voluntary Waste Collection Centers will be built in Calarasi, Ungheni and Leova. The costs of construction and commissioning of the centers are covered by the European Union. The total cost of investments is estimated at 1.8 million euros.

Export of honey from Ukraine in 2025 compared to the figure for 2024 (about 86 thousand tons) decreased by 41.4% – to 50.3 thousand tons. In financial terms, the export of this product from Ukraine in 2025 decreased by 24.9% to $125.4 mln.

Permitting of TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network) projects in Moldova will be accelerated when creating road, rail, water and aviation infrastructure, which is part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).

Barcelona, Spain, will host the 20th Mobile World Congress 2026 from March 2 to 5. Already at the start of the event, the industry received a number of sensational premieres that promise to change the perception of smartphones, tablets and in general the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence.

In the current geopolitical context, a new approach to the country’s reintegration process is needed, participants in the round table “Prospects for Moldova’s reintegration” dedicated to the Transnistrian issue said.

Preferences in payment methods in the EU countries vary significantly by region. Cash payments remain the most popular method in Germany and Austria, where they are preferred by almost two thirds of respondents. Bank cards dominate in the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway).

On February 27, the Brussels authorities announced the launch of an in-depth investigation into the Oltenia energy complex in Romania. The reason was doubts as to whether Bucharest had complied with EU conditions in the process of restructuring the complex or had abused state aid and violated competition rules on the domestic market.

Romania’s pork industry is experiencing the most acute crisis in the last decade. For five months, many Romanian pork producers have been operating outside the profitability zone. The country’s market is under intense pressure from heavy pork shipments from the European Union, which is shedding its reserves due to the threat of a widespread African swine fever epidemic in Spain. The short-term outlook for the industry is extremely unfavorable.

Interaction with the IMF will be a key condition for the country’s support in the EU accession process. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made such an appeal to the Moldovan authorities at a meeting on February 27.

The German government, in response to a request from Bundestag deputies, succinctly clarified its position on the unification of Moldova and Romania, Logos Press reports.

In 2025, the Investment Agency (Invest Moldova) attracted 17 foreign investors to the country in the sectors of energy, IT and BPO, financial services, electronics and automotive, agri-food and textile production. Total investments amounted to $46.14 million and 263 new jobs were created.

In 2025, the foreign trade turnover of agricultural and food products between Ukraine and the European Union decreased by 9% compared to the record figure of the previous year – to $15.7 billion, according to Logos Press.

Armenia is ready to open a land border with Turkey and to establish diplomatic relations with it. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that these two issues are nomadic in the dialog between the countries, as well as with the European Union, Logos Press reported.