Single market, competition & trade
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.
Issue 55 - 2007
27 July 2007
- The EU should talk to Hamas, Charles Grant, Clara Marina O'Donnell
- Re-imagining EU development aid, Simon Maxwell
- Reciprocity will not secure Europe’s energy , Katinka Barysch
Why Europeans don’t have babies
29 June 2007
Europeans live longer, work less and have fewer babies. On current trends, the EU will not have enough workers to pay for its growing number of pensioners.
EU business and Turkish accession
22 June 2007
Many EU politicians and their voters are unsure about the merits of Turkish accession. Europe’s entrepreneurs are not. They are showing confidence by investing billions into the fast-growing Turkish economy, partly because they expect that EU accession will continue to change the country for the better.
Industrial policy – back to the future?
01 June 2007
In his book ‘Testimony’, Nicolas Sarkozy, the newly elected French president, wrote that his finest hour as finance minister of France was the government’s rescue of Alstom, a French maker of high-speed trains and telecoms equipment. The company’s banks had refused to extend further credit, and with Siemens – a...
Issue 54 - 2007
25 May 2007
- Sarkozy, secularism and Turkey’s European future, Katinka Barysch
- Europe and America’s debate about foreign policy , Tomas Valasek
- Industrial policy – back to the future?, Simon Tilford
Britain and Europe: A City minister's perspective
18 May 2007
Britain's membership of the EU strengthens London as a global financial centre, argues City Minister, Ed Balls. The UK should engage actively with the EU, to ensure that its financial regulation is proportionate, flexible, and implemented effectively.
Globalisation: Business versus politics?
20 April 2007
The CER and Accenture brought together a group of business people, journalists and policy analysts today, to discuss what the world may look like in 2020. What struck me is that there is not one debate about globalisation but several. And they hardly touch.
We are all Nordic now, or are we?
02 April 2007
The EU drew up its Lisbon reform agenda in 2000 with the thinly disguised goal of catching up with the US. But the idea that Europe should strive to adopt ‘Anglo-Saxon’ capitalism is abhorrent to those who cherish Europe’s more extensive welfare states.
Issue 53 - 2007
30 March 2007
- Britain and the EU: a crisis looms, Charles Grant
- We are all Nordic now, or are we?, Katinka Barysch
- Ukraine’s real problem, Tomas Valasek
The future of the single market
02 March 2007
The EU puts out a lot of reports, studies, evaluations and announcements. So far this month, the Commission has released around 80 major documents. Many of them are too specialised, too long or simply too dull to attract wider interest.
The Lisbon scorecard VII: Will globalistion leave Europe stranded?
01 February 2007
Globalisation and the rapid integration of China and India into the international economy present huge opportunities for the European Union.
The wrong benchmark for Eastern Europe
25 January 2007
In November last year, Anders Aslund, a long-time observer of transition economies, rang the alarm bells over Eastern Europe. In an FT article he talked about “Central Europe’s political malaise” and warned that budget profligacy and reform fatigue would keep the new members from catching up with the West.
Beware a weak dollar!
08 December 2006
When Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, announced yesterday’s increase in eurozone interest rates, he did not even mention the threat a weaker dollar could pose to the outlook for the eurozone economy.
Transatlantic trade: walk before you run
01 December 2006
Ever since the EU forged its plans for a single market, in the late 1980s, there has periodically been interest in the idea of establishing a transatlantic single market – removing not only tariffs, but also non-tariff barriers to trade and investment.
Issue 51 - 2007
24 November 2006
- If Turkey and the EU break up..., Katinka Barysch
- Time to get tough on carbon emissions, Simon Tilford
- Transatlantic trade: walk before you run, Aurore Wanlin
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.
Will the eurozone crack?
01 September 2006
Europeans often refer to Economic and Monetary Union and enlargement as the EU's two greatest successes. However, the basis for a sustainable currency union is not in place.
The future of European universities: Renaissance or decay?
01 June 2006
Knowledge is an increasingly critical factor in shaping economic life. But in Europe, the institutions that should be the main sources of knowledge are failing to meet the challenge.
Europe’s new division of labour
01 June 2006
Two years after the accession of ten new members, the EU is showing clear signs of enlargement fatigue. While most politicians and economists insist that eastward enlargement has been good for the EU, voters are increasingly sceptical.