Single market, competition & trade
Sound public finances require more than low budget deficits
04 January 2013
Small budget deficits are no guarantee of sustainable public finances: Europe needs higher inflation and growth if it is to stem the rise in public debt.
Europe's future in an age of austerity
18 December 2012
The CER invited leading economists and policy-makers to debate the implications of fiscal austerity for economic, political and monetary stability.
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.
Europe's youth job crisis
30 November 2012
Some 14 million young people in the EU are not in work or education. German-style apprenticeships and flexible labour markets could help them get jobs.
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.
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.
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
Much ado about little: Britain and the EU budget
07 November 2012
Britain is expending considerable political capital on freezing the EU budget. It would be best to push for reform of how the budget is spent.
Russia needs a plan for modernising its economy
06 November 2012
Russia remains dependent on oil and gas, yet its leaders lack a coherent plan for rebalancing the economy. President Putin does not seem bothered.
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.
Alice in euroland: What political union for the single currency?
09 October 2012
The eurozone needs to be embedded in a 'political union' if it is to work better. The question is: what sort of political union?
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...
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.
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
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.
The Commission should stand firm on Iceland's accession negotiations
08 August 2012
The world's longest running democracy would be a welcome member, but the EU should not lower standards on fishing or whaling to encourage Iceland to join.
Issue 85 - 2012
27 July 2012
- Europe needs a Rooseveltian break with fear, Hugo Brady
- A banking union – it is necessary, but is it likely?, Philip Whyte
- Is the Franco-British defence treaty in trouble?, Tomas Valasek