Category: 3. Business

EU gas and electricity markets from January to March 2025 proved their continued resilience as they ensured stable and secure energy supplies with important milestones on both markets. For electricity, while the wind sector and hydropower faced unfavourable conditions, solar power generation reached 45 TWh, a record level for the first quarter – some 30% higher than the same period last year. On the gas market, the end to the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine from 1 January led to a 45% drop in Russian pipeline gas relative to the previous quarter, and 39% down on the same period in 2024. This means that the U.S. has now overtaken Russia to become the EU’s second largest gas supplier (behind Norway). The colder than usual heating season saw higher gas demand for the quarter than in recent years, but prices were broadly kept in check thanks to the significant EU storage levels at the beginning of the quarter. The combination of higher gas prices and a higher share of gas power generation led to higher electricity prices compared with the first quarter of 2024. However, this was only short-lived and still lower than in 2023.

The gas market report confirms that further progress was achieved in the diversification of EU gas supply away from Russia and the structural change in imports. The end to Russian pipeline gas transit through Ukraine, meant that total Russian gas imports (including LNG) declined by 28% year-on-year and 27% quarter-on quarter. The volumes of Russian LNG imports remained stable compared to the previous quarter and declined 11% year-on-year. This change also further accentuated the shift towards more LNG imports (45% – relative to 38% in the previous quarter), while pipeline gas imports were reduced (55%, from 62% in Q4-2024). 

The drop in temperatures in the first 3 months of the year – much lower than in the past 2 years, although still above the historical average – drove a 15% increase in EU gas consumption (to 119 bcm) compared to the previous quarter. Consumption grew by 8% year-on-year, indicating a possible halt in the structural decline of EU gas demand observed since 2021. Imports declined by 2% both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year, while domestic gas production increased by 3% both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.

Norway remained the EU’s largest gas supplier with a share of 31% in total EU gas imports and provided 55% of the EU’s pipeline gas. The United States became the second largest EU gas supplier with a 24% share in EU imports and surpassed Russia, whose share dropped to 14% from 19% in Q4-2024 and Q1-2024. The U.S. provided more than half (53%) of EU LNG in the quarter. North-Africa (Algeria) increased its pipeline gas supply share to 21% from 19% in the previous quarter and 17% in Q1-2024 – the second biggest pipeline gas suppler after Norway, relegating Russia to third with 12%. Qatar remained an important LNG supplier (10%) to the EU and occupied the third largest position after Russia (16%) in EU LNG supply. 

The upward price movement in wholesale gas price (observed already in Q4-2024) continued, driven by rapidly drawn-down gas storage levels combined with lower renewable production and geopolitical tensions. European wholesale prices averaged 47 €/MWh in the first quarter of 2025, an increase of 9% compared to the previous quarter and a 71% increase year-on-year. The monthly average price reached 48 €/MWh in January and 50 €/MWh in February, before falling back to 42 €/MWh in March 2025. Retail gas prices increased by 6% both in quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparison. The EU quarterly average retail price was 112 €/MWh. 

The electricity market report highlights the contrast between the record solar power generation (45 TWh) and the exceptionally low wind generation for the first quarter due to the poor wind speeds. Wind generation declined year-on-year, with onshore wind dropping by 17% (-22 TWh) and offshore wind by 22% (-4 TWh). Hydropower also saw a 15% decrease (-16 TWh), albeit from very high levels in Q1 2024. This unusual combination – and the rise in gas demand because of the cold weather – meant that the renewable share of power generation decreased to 41% in the first quarter of 2025. This compares with 46% in the first quarter of 2024. A closer look at the figures shows that, after atypically weak generation in January and February, renewable output started to pick up again in March, indicating a positive trajectory for the upcoming months.

In contrast, fossil fuel generation rose by 17% (+33 TWh), compensating for the atypically low renewable output and a moderate rise in electricity demand. This was largely driven by less CO₂-intensive gas generation which increased 23% (+21 TWh), alongside a 15% rise (+11 TWh) in coal-fired generation. Nuclear output also experienced an increase of 4% (+6 TWh).

Electricity prices exhibited volatility, with the European Power Benchmark averaging 100 €/MWh due to higher gas prices and more gas power generation. This marks a 49% increase from Q1 2024, but a 38% decrease from Q1 2023. Retail electricity prices for households in EU capital cities saw a marginal increase of 3% to 255 €/MWh, driven by higher energy taxes and network charges.

More than 620 000 new electric vehicles (EVs) were sold in Q1 2025 in the passenger car segment in the EU – a record high for the first quarter and 15% higher than the same quarter last year. This translates into a 21% EV share in the EU passenger car market.

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A growing chorus of executives has put white collar workforces on notice: Their jobs are at risk of being wiped out by artificial intelligence.

Yet above that din is a more complicated picture of how AI is currently affecting hiring.

Direct evidence of an acceleration in human obsolescence remains scant so far. In a report this week, the job and hiring consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas said cuts spurred by President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency remained the leading cause of job losses — especially for government, nonprofit and other sectors supported by federal funds — followed by general economic and market conditions.

Out of 286,679 planned layoffs so far this year, only 20,000 were linked to automation, the firm said — with just 75 explicitly tied to AI implementation.

“Far less is happening than people imagine,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president at the consultancy, referring to the impact of AI on the broader workforce in the U.S. “There are roles that can be significantly changed by AI right now, but I’m not talking to too many HR leaders who say AI is replacing jobs.”

That belies recent comments made by some of America’s most prominent executives about the impact that artificial intelligence is expected to have. Last month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warned that AI would “reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains” over time. However, he did not lay out what that time frame might look like. He also said more people would likely be needed to do “other types of jobs,” ones that AI may help generate.

And while The Wall Street Journal reported comments from Ford CEO Jim Farley this week that AI would replace “literally half of all white-collar workers in the U.S.,” a clip of Farley’s presentation offered more context. The automotive executive was speaking about beefing up America’s blue-collar workforce, and appeared to be repeating the warning about a white-collar wipeout issued by the CEO of the AI company Anthropic — a contention that is still being debated. (A representative for Ford did not respond to a request for comment.)

Experts say the current era of AI is impacting the job market in more roundabout ways. Many firms are currently under tremendous pressure to cut costs given the generally uncertain economic environment spurred by the heavy cost of Trump’s tariff policy and worries about rising inflation. As a result, some companies are diverting spending that would otherwise be going to hiring more employees and shifting it toward AI software.

“There’s basically a blank check to go out and buy these AI tools,” said Josh Bersin, CEO of The Josh Bersin Company workforce consultancy. “Then they go out and say, as far as head count: No more hiring. Just, ‘stop.’ So that immediately freezes the job market.”

Among the most high-profile examples is Shopify, whose CEO told employees they must now prove why they “cannot get what they want done using AI” before asking for more employees and resources.

“What would this area look like if autonomous AI agents were already part of the team?” Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke wrote in a memo sent to employees in March. “This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects.”

The chief executive of language learning app Duolingo, Luis von Ahn, issued a similar edict in May, writing that the firm would gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle and that a budget for new employees would only be given “if a team cannot automate more of their work.”

Enough firms hedging in this way, alongside a wider economic slowdown, may indeed be suppressing overall hiring, especially in business and professional services.

But those trends do not amount to large-scale replacement of existing workers by AI agents.

Then there are the firms creating the AI tools themselves — the ones other businesses are ostensibly looking to purchase and deploy to automate their workforces. These AI developers, including Dell, Google parent Alphabet, Facebook parent Meta, Microsoft and Salesforce, have been shedding workers not tied to AI product development and shifting resources toward those who are. If AI is causing job losses, it’s not because it’s doing someone else’s job. It’s because budgets — and demands on the bottom line — are changing.

The state of hiring at Microsoft is illustrative. Over the past several weeks, the tech giant — whose stock has surged 17% year to date thanks in part to the popularity of its Copilot AI tool — has announced job cuts affecting some 15,000 roles, or about 7% of its workforce.

In this case, some human replacement does appear to be occurring: CEO Satya Nadella said recently that as much as 30% of the company’s code is now written by AI — something Bloomberg News confirmed in a report showing software engineering roles made up more than 40% of the roughly 2,000 positions cut in one of the recent layoff rounds.

Yet other analysts indicated the cuts were also likely designed to offset the costs associated with Microsoft’s massive buildout of data centers designed to handle AI computer processing.

“We believe that every year Microsoft invests at the current levels, it would need to reduce headcount by at least 10,000” in order to make up for its increased capital expenditures, said Gil Luria, a tech research analyst at D.A. Davidson financial group, in an interview with Reuters.

In a note to clients, analysts with the consultancy Capital Economics said not all mentions of AI by businesses discussing their financial picture should be taken at face value.

“For some firms, AI is a way to spin job losses driven by poor financial performance in a more positive light,” they wrote.

AI is also impacting the hiring and recruiting process itself. A galaxy of startups now offers tools that can perform the job of entire HR departments, from scanning resumes to interviewing candidates. At IBM, “a couple hundred” HR workers have been recently replaced by AI agents, CEO Arvind Krishna told The Wall Street Journal in May.

Yet with those efficiencies, the company was able to hire more programmers and salespeople, he said.

“While we have done a huge amount of work inside IBM on leveraging AI and automation on certain enterprise workflows, our total employment has actually gone up, because what it does is it gives you more investment to put into other areas,” Krishna said.

For anyone struggling to find new work, AI is not without blame. But experts say economic factors continue to vastly outweigh the threat from automation.

“Our research has shown that AI will fundamentally change a whole lot of jobs, some by a lot,” said Svenja Gudell, chief economist at Indeed Hiring Lab. In the case of software developers especially, she said, roles are being completely transformed. “But does it still mean AI took that job? I don’t think so,” she said. “There’s not evidence that it’s fully replacing whole workers, or that the current slowdown can be attributed to it.”

Global law firm Baker McKenzie has partnered with Fundacja Digital Poland to develop “The Digital Champions CEE 2025 report”, showcasing the resilience, innovation and global ambition of CEE’s digital economy, with Poland once again at the forefront.

The report provides a data-rich, forward-looking analysis of the CEE tech landscape, spotlighting the region’s top 100 technology companies and their market dynamics – with a combined valuation approaching USD 117 billion. Fifteen companies debuted on the list of 100 digital champions in the region. The Foundation’s experts highlight the increase in the value of mid-sized companies, which is a sign of the dynamic development of the entire technology industry.

Estonian fintech Wise topped this year’s list, followed by Poland-based ecommerce enabler InPost and Polish online sales platform Allegro. The list includes 32 companies with a market capitalization over $1 billion, down from a record 39 in 2021.

Within the report, experts from the Digital Poland Foundation point to the increase in the value and importance of medium-sized companies in the latest edition of the ranking. This favours innovation, the exchange of experience, staff development and specialist support services. It is also more dynamic and attractive from an investor’s point of view. As the report shows, the capitalization of ‘dragons’, i.e. companies in the range of USD 250 million to USD 1 billion, has more than doubled (an increase of 138%) in four years.

“We’re thrilled to see the growth of the region’s biggest tech stars, and even more by the evolution of the entire CEE market, which is transforming into an ecosystem full of valuable companies,” said Piotr Mieczkowski, managing director of the Digital Poland Foundation and a co-author of the report. “This showcases how the region’s numerous competitive advantages make it an ideal platform for growth.”

Poland maintained its lead in the ranking in terms of the number of champions and share in total market capitalization. The list of the 100 largest companies includes 39 Polish companies with a value of USD 43 billion, representing 37% of the value of all companies in the ranking. Estonia remains the leader in the ranking based on population, both in terms of the number of champions and capitalization.

“The region’s champions continue executing on their strategy of fast growth driven by acquisitions – not only elsewhere in the region, but also from Western Europe and markets including Turkey,” said Radzym Wójcik, counsel in Baker McKenzie’s Warsaw M&A practice. “We’re still seeing low engagement in the region by global capital, but my experience confirms the report’s conclusion that companies from the region are increasingly well prepared to negotiate with international funds, and are receiving bigger funding flows, at greater valuations. Part of that is because these local companies increasingly have clients around the globe.”

This is the fourth edition of the CEE Digital Champions ranking. The value of companies was calculated based on current public market valuations, market benchmarks, EBITDA ratios and revenues. The champions include companies whose main source of profit is digital products and services or sales through digital channels reaching customers.

The report’s strategic partners are Arthur D. Little and Baker McKenzie.

The full report can be downloaded from the Digital Poland Foundation’s website.

Le Mans/Munich. This edition of Le Mans Classic marks
a historic occasion with the return of the first BMW Art Car by
Alexander Calder, in its Artist’s Proof version, initiated by the
Calder Foundation and BMW Group Classic, to the track where it all
began 50 years ago. Hervé Poulain, the visionary behind the BMW Art
Cars, and Alexander SC Rower, Calder’s grandson, will take a
ceremonial lap in this automotive artwork on Sunday, July 6, from 9:45
to 10:25am, during the BMW parade. This event pays vibrant tribute to
the originality of the project, where art meets automotive,
perpetuating a tradition that has lasted for half a century.

As a long-standing partner of Le Mans Classic, BMW celebrates this
year the double anniversary of its iconic BMW Art Cars and the BMW 3
Series. Taking place from 4 to 6 July, Le Mans Classic brings together
classic and vintage racing cars on the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans
circuit, creating a strong link between historical heritage and
contemporary innovation.

 This strong presence on the Circuit de la Sarthe
underlines BMW’s long-standing commitment to the alliance between art
and technology. The presentation of the first BMW Art Car marks a
celebration of the artistic and technological journey, reinforcing the
idea that past progress feeds future innovation. This iconic
BMW 3.0 CSL embodies a perfect balance of
lightness, performance and bold aesthetics.

2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the BMW Art Cars, as well as the
50th anniversary of the BMW 3 Series, one of the
world’s best-selling premium cars with over 20 million units sold.

On this occasion, Hervé Poulain, co-founder of the BMW Art Cars,
auctioneer and racing driver, will share his vision and emotions about
the creation of the first Art Car and discuss the uniqueness of this
visionary collection. Alexander SC Rower, president of the Calder
Foundation and grandson of the artist, will talk about the importance
of this rolling sculpture in his grandfather’s artistic legacy. This
meeting will be marked by the themes of transmission and passion.

Hervé Poulain says: “I wanted to provoke a
meeting between the major arts and industry, two worlds that ignored
each other. The BMW Art Cars have transformed the status of the
automobile by bringing this object born from applied arts into the
fine art.” Looking to the future, he continues: “The automotive myth
has undergone many transformations. Today, this myth is evolving as
the 21st century promises unprecedented advancements. The BMW Art Car
by Calder was born 50 years ago in reaction to the pessimism generated
by the first oil shock, as a symbolic gesture of optimism and
confidence in the future.”

50 years of ‘rolling sculptures’: the BMW Art Car
Collection
Since 1975, renowned artists from around the
world have created BMW Art Cars. The idea emerged thanks to French
racing driver and art enthusiast Hervé Poulain, who, in collaboration
with Jochen Neerpasch, then Head of Motorsport at BMW, invited his
friend and artist Alexander Calder to paint a car. The result was a
BMW 3.0 CSL that participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1975,
captivating the public and marking the birth of the BMW Art Car
Collection. Famous figures such as Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein,
Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Esther Mahlangu, David Hockney,
Jenny Holzer and Ólafur Elíasson have since enriched the collection
with their unique styles. More recently, John Baldessari and Cao Fei
have used the BMW M6 GTLM and BMW M6 GT3 respectively to add dynamic
race cars to the collection, competing at Daytona in 2016 and Macau in
2017. The BMW Art Cars by Jeff Koons and Julie Mehretu raced at the 24
Hours of Le Mans in 2010 and 2024.

Le Mans Classic
Since its beginnings, Le Mans
Classic has provided a unique stage where more than 600 cars gather to
pay tribute to the history of motorsport. BMW, a loyal partner of the
event, showcases a range of iconic vehicles, symbols of this rich
tradition. This year’s Le Mans Classic poster honours the legendary
BMW M1 Procar, paying tribute to the cars that have
marked the history of the greatest endurance race of all time.

With over 200,000 visitors expected, Le Mans Classic is much more
than just a car gathering. It is a grand popular festival, enriched by
parades and cultural activities that connect automotive history with
the future. In this year of double celebration, BMW is highlighting
its rich heritage while reaffirming its commitment to innovation and excellence.

Models on display in the BMW area from 4 to 6 July:

• 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL Calder (Artist’s Proof)
• 1995 BMW M3 GT Coupé E36
• BMW M3 CS Touring
• BMW i4 M60
• BMW M Electrified (Development Prototype)

Further information on the Calder BMW Art Car (Artist’s Proof) can be
found here.

The BMW Group’s Cultural Engagement, with exclusive updates and
deeper insights into its global initiatives can be followed on
Instagram at @BMWGroupCulture.

Leaving Dentons

Beijing Dacheng Law Offices, LLP (“大成”) is an independent law firm, and not a member or affiliate of Dentons. 大成 is a partnership law firm organized under the laws of the People’s Republic of China, and is Dentons’ Preferred Law Firm in China, with offices in more than 40 locations throughout China. Dentons Group (a Swiss Verein) (“Dentons”) is a separate international law firm with members and affiliates in more than 160 locations around the world, including Hong Kong SAR, China. For more information, please see dacheng.com/legal-notices or dentons.com/legal-notices.

Persons with and at risk of osteoporosis have unique requirements for nutrition education. It is important for these individuals to achieve adequate intake of nutrients that are important for bone health (i.e. calcium, vitamin D, protein) and, where possible, this nutrient intake should be achieved in the context of a healthy dietary pattern that is rich in whole foods. Using focus groups, we identified several barriers to maintaining a bone-healthy diet among individuals with and at risk of osteoporosis, including cooking for one, low motivation to prepare meals, and dietary restrictions. Facilitating factors included meal planning and advance preparation, online grocery shopping, and engaging in regular exercise, which participants noted to be associated with improved appetite and increased motivation to adopt a healthy diet. There was consensus among focus group participants that a bone-focused CM program would be beneficial, with preference for a virtual format. Our findings can be used to inform the development of programs to improve nutrition education and facilitate adherence with dietary recommendations among individuals with and at risk of osteoporosis.

To our knowledge, the present study is the first to evaluate barriers and facilitators to consuming a bone-healthy diet among individuals with and at risk of osteoporosis that is not confined to assessment of intake of a specific nutrient (e.g. calcium) or food group (e.g. dairy). Previous studies have primarily focused on barriers and facilitators to consuming calcium-rich foods in a variety of populations, including women and adolescents. Reported barriers in these studies include lack of time, cost, inconvenience, concerns about waste, cultural practices, not seeing calcium deficiency as a threat, perception that calcium-rich foods do not taste good, real and/or perceived intolerance or allergy to dairy and lactose, belief that all dairy foods are high in calories and fat, and uncertainty about good dietary sources of calcium [15,16,17,18, 31]. Reported facilitators for calcium-rich food intake in prior studies include: perceived benefits such as improved energy levels and osteoporosis prevention, good taste, and educational information from trustworthy sources that was presented in a catchy manner [18, 32]. The present study identified some of the same barriers, specifically lack of time, inconvenience, and dietary intolerances. Needing to cook for one and lack of motivation to cook multiple meals a day were not highlighted as barriers to consumption of calcium-rich foods in prior studies, but may have emerged as principal barriers to maintaining a bone-healthy diet in the present study given the relatively older age of our population (age range 56–87). Accordingly, social isolation, not being married, and lack of interest in life have been identified as risk factors for malnutrition in older populations [33]. In addition, participants in the present study were primarily of White ethnicity and moderate-to-high socioeconomic position, which may respectively explain why cultural practices and cost did not emerge as major barriers.

While our findings indicate that individuals with and at risk of osteoporosis face several barriers to eating well for bone health, they also suggest that a bone-focused CM program, designed with the view of mitigating these barriers, would be well accepted among our target population. CM programs can incorporate strategies such as meal planning, preparation of multiple servings for leftovers and freezing [34, 35], which can ameliorate the challenges associated with cooking for one and lack of motivation to cook multiple meals a day [36]. Additionally, CM provides an optimal environment for education regarding substitutions and modifications to address dietary restrictions, as has been shown in individuals living with chronic kidney disease [37], hypertension [38], cardiovascular disease [39], and cancer [40]. CM also has the potential to promote and encourage the facilitating factors identified in this study, particularly meal planning and advance preparation [34]. Depending on the mode of delivery, CM programs could be leveraged to support patients with online grocery shopping [41], and to encourage exercise [42]. Additionally, CM interventions are often delivered in a group environment, which our focus group participants identified as a potential benefit with a desire for sense of community. Nanduri and colleagues have also demonstrated that participation in organized social support systems can contribute to improvement in physical activity among seniors with osteoporosis [43], and McAlpine et al. found that social engagement was associated with improved quantity and quality of nutrient intake among older adults [44].

In terms of developing a bone-focused CM program, focus group participants indicated that a virtual program would be favored over in-person programming, with some individuals expressing preference for a demonstration format while others preferring a cook-along. Contrary to what has been reported in other populations, lack of cooking skills did not emerge as a common barrier to maintaining a bone healthy diet in our study population, which may explain why participants were more motivated to attend a virtual CM demonstration or cook-along rather than an in-person cooking class. However, given the timing of this study, conducted in 2021, it is possible that the preference for virtual delivery was related to the COVID-19 pandemic rather than other reasons; reassessment of the preferred mode of delivery for bone-specific CM programming may be warranted in the future.

While the results of this study provide a rationale for the development of a CM program tailored towards individuals with and at risk of osteoporosis, our findings also indicate that the nutrition education needs and preferences of this population are varied and highly personal. A one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition education is unlikely to be successful. For example, while several barriers to eating well for bone health were identified in the focus groups, survey responses indicated that almost half of the study participants did not experience any barriers to eating well for bone health, and fewer than 40% indicated a need for further nutrition education beyond what they had already received in the didactic bone health class. Furthermore, some of the barriers reported by survey respondents—including time, money, taste preference, family/friends, knowledge of foods, and culture—were never raised in the focus groups. This may be the result of group dynamics: in the focus group setting, the opinions of one or two individuals has the potential to sway the opinions of the collective group [45]. Additionally, some participants may not share personal sensitive information, such as financial concerns, in a group environment [45]. It is also important to note that almost two thirds of survey participants indicated that they were confident in their ability to prepare meals that aligned with recommendations for bone health, and that they had good knowledge of dietary sources of calcium and protein, whereas just over half of participants reported getting sufficient calcium intake in their diet. This suggests a discrepancy between perceived abilities and implementation when it comes to dietary knowledge and skills. Ultimately, while it is unlikely that CM programming will be necessary or beneficial for every individual with and at risk of osteoporosis, our findings indicate that it may be a helpful adjunct to didactic education for some. Bone-focused CM programs should be designed with flexibility in mind, to accommodate the varied needs of this population and individuals. The development and use of screening tools may help to identify the individuals most likely to benefit from a CM program for bone health.

The results of this study should be interpreted in the context of some limitations. The generalizability of our findings is limited by the modest sample size and relatively homogeneous demographics. For example, the study population was entirely of White ethnicity and therefore not reflective of other ethnicities. The study population was also comprised predominantly of women, and with such a small number of men in our sample, it is difficult to discern whether men experience different barriers and facilitating factors to maintaining a bone-healthy diet than women. Gender-specific expectations and division of household duties must also be considered with respect to meal preparation. Additionally, inclusion criteria for this study included having access to internet and an online device, which may have precluded individuals who experience low socioeconomic standing from participating. This could explain why food access and cost did not emerge as barriers in our cohort. Furthermore, as indicated above, the results of focus group studies can be influenced by group dynamics and therefore may not be fully representative of the thoughts and beliefs of all group members [45].