Single market, competition & trade
Issue 62 - 2008
26 September 2008
- How to handle the new Russia, Charles Grant
- Russia, China and the Georgia dimension, Bobo Lo
- Options for EU trade policy, Philip Whyte
Farewell, Polish plumber
07 August 2008
When the EU expanded its membership in 2004, the UK was one of only three EU countries – Ireland and Sweden were the others – fully to open its borders to migrants from the ten new member states.
A new European mercantilism?
01 August 2008
Europe’s economic liberals have had a successful ten years. There have been protectionist pressures throughout this period, of course.
Should Europeans care about Doha?
30 July 2008
Are the Doha trade talks finally dead? Following the failure of the latest ministerial meeting in Geneva on July 29th, there will be little appetite for another big push to resolve disputes over farm subsidies and manufacturing tariffs.
Issue 61 - 2008
25 July 2008
- Three scenarios for the Lisbon treaty, Charles Grant
- A new European mercantilism?, Simon Tilford
- The next US president should forget the League of Democracies, David Hannay
Eurozone economic outlook: Too much complacency
03 April 2008
A year ago the prospect of the dollar falling to 1.60 against the euro would have brought on cold sweats across Europe. Yet, here we are and there is no sense of crisis.
Liberal reforms are no threat to social Europe
01 April 2008
Europeans have long sought to reconcile markets with social solidarity. The EU’s economic reform programme, the Lisbon agenda, falls squarely within this tradition. Launched in 2000, its vaulting ambition was to turn the EU into the “most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010”.
Issue 59 - 2008
28 March 2008
- Liberal reforms are no threat to social Europe, Philip Whyte
- For a new Iran policy, Christoph Bertram
- Applicants sought for new Council president, Hugo Brady
A joint response to the credit crunch
19 March 2008
Ailing banks are being rescued, markets remain frozen, economic numbers are becoming gloomier. Of course, central banks and governments are focusing on fire-fighting, on cutting interest rates, on providing cash to liquidity-starved banks and to consumers.
Time for the Export-Weltmeister to start consuming
13 February 2008
Too many Europeans are blaming the US for the economic slowdown in Europe, as if everything would have been fine if only the Americans were not so irresponsible. This is complacent.
The Lisbon scorecard VIII: Is Europe ready for an economic storm?
01 February 2008
After more than half a decade of economic gloom, the years 2006 and 2007 restored some much-needed optimism to Europe. Faster GDP growth and falling unemployment were at least partly due to the implementation of structural reform.
Growing old gracefully: How to ease population ageing in Europe
17 January 2008
Europe stands on the cusp of a demographic revolution. Rising life expectancy and low fertility are radically transforming Europe’s demographic profile. Ageing populations pose profound political, economic and social challenges for Europe.
European retail banking: Will there ever be a single market?
03 December 2007
Integrated markets for entertainment and communications, as well as nearly all goods, stretch from the Arctic to Cyprus. By contrast, Europe’s retail banking industry remains largely segmented along national lines.
Politics, Sarkozy and the euro
03 December 2007
Not long after its launch, the euro was famously dismissed by a disgruntled currency trader as a “toilet currency”. How things have changed. Since 2003, the euro’s external value has soared, particularly against the US dollar.
China is losing its EU friends
29 November 2007
The EU is getting tough on China. That, at least, is the impression one gets from high-ranking EU officials that arrived for the annual EU-China summit in Beijing this week. Economics is the main reason for Europe’s changing mood.
Can the EU learn to live with Chinese mercantilism?
29 October 2007
Not long after its launch, the euro was famously dismissed by a disgruntled currency trader as a “toilet currency”. How things have changed.
What should Europe do about sovereign wealth funds?
01 October 2007
Several EU governments have become alarmed about sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). Germany, for example, is thinking of preventing such funds from buying local companies in sensitive sectors.
Issue 56 - 2007
28 September 2007
- What should Europe do about sovereign wealth funds?, Katinka Barysch, Philip Whyte
- Yes to a referendum, but not on this treaty, Hugo Brady
- Transatlantic relations after Bush, Kori Schake
The Microsoft appeal: The Commission was right
13 September 2007
On September 17th the European Union’s Court of First Appeal will rule on Microsoft’s long-awaited appeal against the record fine imposed on the company by the Commission in 2004 for abusing its dominant position in computer operating systems.