Research
How to build a better EU foreign policy
03 April 2006
With its constitutional treaty moribund, the EU needs to find new projects that show its relevance to the citizens of Europe. One priority should be a plan for a more coherent Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
Issue 47 - 2006
24 March 2006
- A new European approach to China, Mark Leonard
- What future for free trade in services?, Simon Tilford
- How to build a better EU foreign policy, Charles Grant, Mark Leonard
Ditchley conference note - The future of the European economy
21 March 2006
In November 2005, the CER took more than 40 of Europe's top economists, policy-makers and commentators to the Ditchley Park in Oxfordshire to discuss 'The future of the European economy'. Participants included Graham Bishop, Jean-Philippe Cotis, Daniel Gros, Will Hutton, DeAnne Julius, Anatole Kaletsky, John Kay, Mart Laar, Richard Layard,...
The Lisbon scorecard VI: Will Europe's economy rise again?
01 March 2006
The European Union and its 'Lisbon agenda' of economic reform, have received a battering over the past year. The pace of reform has remained slow in the big eurozone countries.
New budget, old dilemmas
22 February 2006
After months of fierce haggling, the UK government managed to broker a deal on the EU's new budget at the Union's summit in December 2005.
The EU's new financial services agenda
03 February 2006
After five years of intense law-making, the European Commission promises fewer financial services laws for the remainder of the decade. But there is still no fully integrated single European market in financial services.
EU 2010: A programme for reform
03 February 2006
The European Union is suffering from a profound malaise. There have been difficult times in the past – such as the 'empty chair' left by General de Gaulle in the mid-1960s, the rows over the British budget contribution in the early 1980s, and the struggles to ratify the Maastricht treaty...
The EU must do more on climate change
01 February 2006
The EU, like the rest of the world, faces no greater threat than climate change. There are two – equally bleak – scenarios for Europe if greenhouse gas emissions are not cut quickly and substantially.
India and the EU: strategic partners?
01 February 2006
Most EU governments take very little interest in India. That is likely to change. According to Goldman Sachs’ (admittedly speculative) research, over the next half century India will grow faster than any other large national economy.
The EU needs a bolder Balkan strategy
01 February 2006
The Balkans are returning to the top of the EU’s agenda. UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari has begun to negotiate Kosovo’s future, while Montenegrins will probably vote in April on whether to break with Serbia.
Issue 46 - 2006
27 January 2006
- The EU must do more on climate change, Stephen Tindale
- India and the EU: strategic partners?, Charles Grant
- The EU needs a bolder Balkan strategy, Carl Bildt
The Austrian EU presidency and the future of the constitutional treaty
24 January 2006
Austrians heaved a sigh of relief when the UK presidency brokered a last-minute deal on the EU budget in December 2005. The Austrian government hoped that the agreement would free its hands to focus on more rewarding issues during its presidency.
East versus West? The European economic and social model after enlargement
06 January 2006
The EU's enlargement to the East has been an economic success. Trade between the old and the new members is thriving. Foreign investment by West European companies has helped to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in Central and Eastern Europe, and it has generated multi-billion euro profits for the investing companies.
The Doha trade round: What hope for Hong Kong?
01 December 2005
The Doha round of trade talks, launched in the Qatar capital in 2001, is in trouble. The members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have little time left to meet their ambition of helping developing countries trade their way out of poverty.
Why Europe deserves a better farm policy
01 December 2005
The prospects for radical CAP reform look bleak. At the time of writing (December 2005) neither the arguments over the EU budget nor pressure from major farm exporters at the world trade negotiations look likely to force the EU to reform.
The EU needs a policy on Belarus
01 December 2005
The first time that I visited Belarus, I noticed that the streets were clean, the subway ran on schedule and the people were very hospitable. On the surface, the people of Minsk seem to enjoy life.
Some advice for Turkey
01 December 2005
Turkey remains far from its goal of entering the EU, despite starting accession talks in October and gaining a broadly favourable progress report from the European Commission in November.
Easing the pain of trade liberalisation
01 December 2005
This year’s textiles crisis shows what can happen if the EU and the US are ill-prepared for competition from emerging Asia. The integration of China and India into the world economy means that manufacturing and low-cost services in the West will have to adapt rapidly.
Issue 45 - 2006
25 November 2005
- The EU needs a policy on Belarus, Urban Ahlin
- Some advice for Turkey, Katinka Barysch
- Easing the pain of trade liberalisation , Richard Cunningham
Can EU diplomacy stop Iran's nuclear programme?
04 November 2005
When Iran restarted its nuclear programme in August 2005, it seemed to obliterate two years of EU efforts to persuade Tehran not to build a nuclear bomb. However, Mark Leonard argues that the EU should persevere with diplomacy.