The single market & competition policy
A multi-tier Europe? The political consequences of the euro crisis
07 December 2012
Euro members must integrate more to save the single currency. But will a two-tier EU destroy the single market and lose the support of the people?
What a banking union means for Europe
05 December 2012
A full banking union is needed to stabilise the eurozone. However, even an embryonic union could drive a wedge between the eurozone and the EU-27.
Eurozone: Trouble in the core?
26 November 2012
Many people lazily assume that the eurozone is now split into a strong, prosperous core and a weak, depressed periphery.
Germany's opposition and the euro crisis
26 November 2012
Although Germany’s next general election is not scheduled until October 2013, the campaign started in earnest on 28 September 2012.
Issue 87 - 2012
26 November 2012
- How Britain could leave the EU, Charles Grant
- Germany's opposition and the euro crisis, Katinka Barysch
- Eurozone: Trouble in the core?, Simon Tilford
Economic recovery requires a better deal for labour
05 November 2012
Unless labour receives a larger share of the pie, Europe's economic recovery will prove elusive and popular hostility to markets will grow.
Will the euro crisis lead to the break-up of EU member-states?
24 October 2012
The crisis is fuelling separatism in Spain and Belgium. But elsewhere in Europe separatists do poorly. Scotland's example may yet discourage others from following Catalonia and Flanders.
How to build European services markets
28 September 2012
European services markets are still overwhelmingly national. There are big economic gains to be made from opening them up.
Europe’s leaders are casting around for ways to improve the EU’s economic performance. In the long term, a more integrated single market for services could improve Europe’s weak productivity growth. The...
Europe’s leaders are casting around for ways to improve the EU’s economic performance. In the long term, a more integrated single market for services could improve Europe’s weak productivity growth. The...
Issue 86 - 2012
26 September 2012
- Eurozone: Are the building blocks falling into place?, Simon Tilford
- What Romney would mean for Europe, Clara Marina O'Donnell
- Cameron's choice: Play to the gallery or keep Britain safe, Hugo Brady
Eurozone: Are the building blocks falling into place?
26 September 2012
On the face of it, September was a good month for the euro. For once, market expectations were met. The European Central Bank (ECB) belatedly opened the way for action to address the ruinous polarisation of government borrowing costs in the eurozone.
How seriously can investors take Draghi's assurances?
31 August 2012
The ECB's upcoming programme of government bond purchases will not be big enough to dispel investors' fears that troubled euro members might quit the currency union.
Will a new German constitution save the euro?
29 August 2012
German politicians from government and opposition want a referendum on a new pro-European constitution. But this does not mean that Berlin is preparing for eurobonds.
Has the eurozone reached the limits of the politically possible?
12 July 2012
The limited measures agreed at June's summit are unlikely to take effect, suggesting that the eurozone has already reached the limits of the politically possible.
Britain must defend the single market
22 June 2012
A Conservative MP argues that the single market will flounder if the UK is marginalised inside the EU – or if the UK leaves altogether.
Some sorts of austerity are better than others
01 June 2012
Governments in the eurozone's periphery are making indiscriminate cuts. Reducing spending that does little to support demand and recycling it into investment would help.
A Greek exit will not be cathartic
25 May 2012
How the eurozone handles Greece will determine whether or not the single currency survives – and hence the future of the EU as a whole.
If a Greek exit from the eurozone is mishandled, contagion to the other struggling member-states could be uncontrollable, leading inexorably to the collapse of the euro....
If a Greek exit from the eurozone is mishandled, contagion to the other struggling member-states could be uncontrollable, leading inexorably to the collapse of the euro....
Issue 84 - 2012
25 May 2012
- A Greek exit will not be cathartic, Simon Tilford
- Time for France to take the lead on Syria, Edward Burke
- What Putin's return means for the former Soviet republics, Jana Kobzova, Tomas Valasek
Ireland's fiscal treaty referendum: (More) fear and loathing in the eurozone?
11 May 2012
Ireland votes on the EU’s new fiscal compact on May 31st. Hugo Brady assesses the chances of a Yes and the consequences of a No.
Stable public finances require stronger business investment
26 March 2012
Economic recovery in Europe is being held back by the unprecedented weakness of business investment. Despite a secular decline in business taxation and labour market reforms that have boosted the power of capital relative to labour, the ratio of investment-to-GDP across the EU is at a 60 year low. Rather...
Issue 83 - 2012
23 March 2012
- How to keep Britain in the EU, Charles Grant
- Stable public finances require stronger business investment, Simon Tilford
- A new political bargain in Afghanistan, Edward Burke