Research

What if the eurozone broke up?

What if the eurozone broke up?

Tomas Valasek
23 March 2009
The future of the euro may not be secure, warned the CER’s Simon Tilford in a January 2009 essay. The current economic crisis threatens to exacerbate the tensions within the eurozone, and an insolvent member-state... could default and leave the eurozone. Since January, the economic crisis has deepened further, and the eurozone’s weakest economies have come under even greater strain. 
Is Russia a partner to the EU in Bosnia?

Is Russia a partner to the EU in Bosnia?

Tomas Valasek
19 March 2009
Where does Bosnia fit in the broader picture of EU – Russian relations? The EU and Russia are ostensibly partners in building a viable government in this Balkan country, but for much of 2007-08 Russia encouraged Bosnian politicians to resist EU-sponsored police reforms. This policy brief argues that Russian policy...
How serious is the threat to the single market?

How serious is the threat to the single market?

Simon Tilford
19 March 2009
There has been a lot of anguished talk about how the EU’s single market is under threat. Much of this alarm has focused on government support for struggling car firms and public bail-outs of crisis-ridden banks.
The real G20 agenda

The real G20 agenda

Katinka Barysch
13 March 2009
Finance ministers from the G20 countries are meeting in London this weekend to prepare for the global economic summit at the start of April. Expectations are high. But what will the summit be about?
Economic crisis and the 'eastern partnership'

Economic crisis and the 'eastern partnership'

Tomas Valasek
10 March 2009
In two months, at a summit in Prague on May 7th 2009, the European Union will launch a new policy for Eastern Europe – an 'eastern partnership'.
Financial regulation: Is the Channel narrowing?

Financial regulation: Is the Channel narrowing?

Philip Whyte
27 February 2009
On February 25th 2009, a Commission-appointed taskforce headed by Jacques de Larosière published its much-awaited report on financial supervision in the EU.
Why enlargement is in trouble

Why enlargement is in trouble

Katinka Barysch
24 February 2009
It is five years since the EU admitted eight Central and East European countries, followed by another two in 2007. To celebrate this anniversary, Commissioner Olli Rehn has just released a report that explains how these countries have benefited from integrating into the EU. But any jubilant mood was dimmed by the current economic crisis in Central and Eastern Europe; and by the bleak outlook for further accessions.
Russia's crisis

Russia's crisis - what it means for regime stability and Moscow's relations with the world

Bobo Lo
19 February 2009
The global financial crisis has had a tremendous impact on Russia. Its much-vaunted resurgence has hit the buffers, and the mood in Moscow is one of mounting anxiety.
Germany: Between a rock and a hard place

Germany: Between a rock and a hard place

Simon Tilford
19 February 2009
Twelve months ago it seemed inconceivable that any member of the EU could face a sovereign debt crisis. It would have been the stuff of fantasy to argue that Ireland or Austria could be among those at risk.
The Lisbon scorecard IX: How to emerge from the wreckage

The Lisbon scorecard IX: How to emerge from the wreckage

Simon Tilford, Philip Whyte
13 February 2009
EU governments are taking increasingly unorthodox measures to prevent the economic crisis from overwhelming their economies. They are right to intervene, but their policies must not undermine Europe's long-term economic growth prospects in the process.
A thaw between Russia and the West?

A thaw between Russia and the West?

13 February 2009
After several years of chilly relations between Moscow and western capitals, a little warmth is detectable. At both the Davos Word Economic Forum in January, and the Munich Security Conference in February, the Russians’ exchanges with Americans and Europeans were fairly polite.
Britain's Schengen dilemma

Britain's Schengen dilemma

10 February 2009
Britain supports more EU co-operation against terrorism, crime and illegal immigration and has done so for over a decade. This is because effective justice co-operation has clearly been in the national interest (as with the speedy capture and extradition of one of the 2005 London bombers from Italy to Britain).
Georgia, Ukraine and energy security

Georgia, Ukraine and energy security

Dieter Helm
02 February 2009
In January 2006 Russia interrupted gas supplies to Ukraine and triggered a short, sharp shock to Europe in its ever-growing dependency on Russian gas.
Obama, disarmament and Iran

Obama, disarmament and Iran

Tomas Valasek
02 February 2009
Barack Obama has pledged to take steps to rid the world of nuclear weapons. “I will not authorise the development of new nuclear weapons. And I will make the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide a central element of US nuclear policy”, he wrote in December 2008.
New Europe and the economic crisis

New Europe and the economic crisis

Katinka Barysch
02 February 2009
The EU's new member-states have been hit hard by the credit crunch and collapsing export markets. The Central and East Europeans sense that their post-Cold War growth model – consisting of liberalisation and EU integration – is broken.
Oil pump

Why global energy markets need governing

Nick Butler
02 February 2009
After a year of upheaval it may seem perverse to take the world’s financial system as a model for anything – least of all for governance.
Issue 64 - 2009 file thumbnail

Issue 64 - 2009

Tomas Valasek, Nick Butler, Dieter Helm
30 January 2009
The French, the European Commission and the Tories

The French, the European Commission and the Tories

29 January 2009
One Frenchman, Jean Monnet, invented the European Commission, and another, Jacques Delors, was its greatest president. Yet the French are increasingly hostile to this Brussels institution.
After the gas conflict

After the gas conflict

Katinka Barysch
23 January 2009
On January 20th, Russian gas started flowing again through Ukraine, after a two-week shut-down that had left people in South East Europe freezing and factories idle. The relief across Europe was palpable but the confusion about what happened is still there.First, both Russia and Ukraine said that the dispute was about money that Naftogaz, the Ukrainian gas company, owed to Russia’s monopoly Gazprom for last year’s deliveries. Then it was about the price the Ukrainians should pay in 2009 for the Russian (or Turkmen) gas that it uses domestically. ...