Economy

AI adoption among EU firms has accelerated rapidly but remains highly uneven, with Scandinavian economies recording adoption rates above 35% compared with single digits in parts of Southern and Eastern Europe. Persistent gaps in economic development, research capacity, and workplace digitalisation help explain this divergence, with potentially significant implications for long-term productivity convergence across the bloc.

Spanish goods exports exhibit greater responsiveness to EU trade agreements than those of other member states, with the divergence becoming more pronounced over time. Where trading partners share historical or linguistic ties with Spain, export growth is driven primarily by the intensive margin; where such ties are absent, the expansion of the export basket through the addition of new products plays a comparatively more important role.

The dollar has lost more than 11% of its effective exchange rate value since early 2025, defying the appreciation that would normally accompany higher tariffs. The evolution reflects not just policy uncertainty but a deeper recalibration of the dollar′s role as the anchor of the international financial system.