The EU budget & farm policy
The EU budget: The Union risks having the wrong debate
01 April 2011
In an age of fiscal austerity, the focus of the forthcoming EU budget talks will be even more strongly on net balances: how much a country pays in and how much it gets back.
Issue 77 - 2011
25 March 2011
- Europe needs a military avant-garde, Charles Grant
- The eurozone's grand bargain: Political pain without economic gain? , Philip Whyte
- The EU budget: The Union risks having the wrong debate, Stephen Tindale
A chance for further CAP reform
28 February 2011
This policy brief argues that the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy which Commissioner Fischler began over a decade ago must now be completed.
Towards an environmental union
02 October 2006
When I was involved in the creation of CER in 1994 I hoped it would become an important source of ideas and debate about the future of Europe.
New budget, old dilemmas
22 February 2006
After months of fierce haggling, the UK government managed to broker a deal on the EU's new budget at the Union's summit in December 2005.
Why Europe deserves a better farm policy
01 December 2005
The prospects for radical CAP reform look bleak. At the time of writing (December 2005) neither the arguments over the EU budget nor pressure from major farm exporters at the world trade negotiations look likely to force the EU to reform.
A 'smart growth' strategy for sustainable development
01 November 2005
Amid the insults and recriminations which followed the collapse of the EU budget negotiations last June, few people noticed that EU leaders succeeded in reaching agreement on a new sustainable development strategy.
CAP reform can reshape the EU budget
03 October 2005
France and Britain appear irreconcilably divided over the future of the EU budget. But the arguments posed by both countries in support of their contrasting positions are flawed.
Issue 44 - 2005
30 September 2005
- Can variable geometry save EU enlargement?, Charles Grant
- CAP reform can reshape the EU budget, Lord Haskins
- An avant-garde for internal security, Hugo Brady
The EU budget: A way forward
01 September 2005
Many of the bitterest arguments in the European Union have been about money. That is partly because the budget is inherently a zero-sum game: more for one country means less for others.
The EU's common fisheries policy: The case for reform, not abolition
01 April 2005
During the British general election campaign, political parties have found the EU's common fisheries policy (CFP) a temptingly soft target.
The EU budget: Common future or stuck in the past?
06 February 2004
The EU's common budget is small and rather rigid. Most of its outlays are determined years in advance, and most of them go on just two policies, namely support for farmers and poorer regions. Yet the EU budget invariably attracts acrimonious debate and close scrutiny out of all proportion to its economic significance.
The EU's budget: Time to go back to basics
02 December 2002
The EU's summit in November descended into a nasty row between EU leaders about the Union's finances. The dilemma member-states face is how to finance enlargement the accession of ten, poorer countries without taking funds away from current EU members or pushing spending above the existing budget ceiling of 1.27 per cent of EU GDP.
Issue 27 - 2002
29 November 2002
- The EU's budget: Time to go back to basics , Friedrich Heinemann
- A credible competition process , Alasdair Murray
- Why Europe does not need a new president , Peter Sutherland
The future of European agriculture
01 November 2002
The need to reform European farm policies has never been clearer. Although the Brussels European Council in October put a ceiling on farm spending, the Commission's 'mid-term review' of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will continue, and there is a real chance to change the policy's priorities over the next few years.
The EU needs a flexible pact
01 April 2002
The decision of EU finance ministers in February 2002 to ignore a Commission proposal to warn Germany and Portugal over the level of their budget deficits has jeopardised the credibility of the Stability and Growth Pact.
Issue 23 - 2002
29 March 2002
- Restoring leadership to the European council , Charles Grant
- The EU needs a flexible pact , Alasdair Murray
Europe must get on-message
01 February 2002
The EU spends 100 million euro each year on its communications budget, yet is demonstrably failing to 'connect' with Europe's 380 million citizens. Recent polls show that less than half of the EU's voters feel that membership of the 15-state club is a 'good thing',while turnout in European Parliament elections...
The EU budget: An agenda for reform
05 February 1999
The nastiest arguments in the European Union, as in any family, are the ones about money. Communautaire sentiment soon evaporates when prime ministers start to haggle over the budget.
Give on the rebate to gain elsewhere
01 February 1999
At their special summit in March, EU leaders are due to settle the Union's finances for the next seven years. The British government is adamant: the budget rebate won by Mrs Thatcher in 1984 is not up for negotiation.