Single market, competition & trade
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
A banking union – it is necessary, but is it likely?
27 July 2012
Could the EU's summit of June 29 come to be regarded as a watershed? Following umpteen crisis summits that have failed to tackle the root causes of the eurozone crisis, EU leaders finally got to the heart of the matter: the need to break the vicious interaction between weak banks...
Britain, Europe and the City of London: Can the triangle be managed?
20 July 2012
The City of London's future will be shaped not just by a tougher regulatory environment, but also by uncertainties about Britain's relations with the EU.
Has the eurozone reached the limits of the politically possible?
12 July 2012
The limited measures agreed at June's summit are unlikely to take effect, suggesting that the eurozone has already reached the limits of the politically possible.
Needed: A Franco-German concordat
27 June 2012
The euro needs a Franco-German bargain: Germany must swallow eurobonds and a banking union, while France must let the EU have a say on its budget.
Britain must defend the single market
22 June 2012
A Conservative MP argues that the single market will flounder if the UK is marginalised inside the EU – or if the UK leaves altogether.
Germany's own goal: Why Berlin's sense of invulnerability will be its undoing
22 June 2012
Germany’s strategy for dealing with the euro crisis is maximising, not minimising, risks to the country’s economic and political interests.
Some sorts of austerity are better than others
01 June 2012
Governments in the eurozone's periphery are making indiscriminate cuts. Reducing spending that does little to support demand and recycling it into investment would help.
A Greek exit will not be cathartic
25 May 2012
How the eurozone handles Greece will determine whether or not the single currency survives – and hence the future of the EU as a whole.
If a Greek exit from the eurozone is mishandled, contagion to the other struggling member-states could be uncontrollable, leading inexorably to the collapse of the euro....
If a Greek exit from the eurozone is mishandled, contagion to the other struggling member-states could be uncontrollable, leading inexorably to the collapse of the euro....
Issue 84 - 2012
25 May 2012
- A Greek exit will not be cathartic, Simon Tilford
- Time for France to take the lead on Syria, Edward Burke
- What Putin's return means for the former Soviet republics, Jana Kobzova, Tomas Valasek
Ireland's fiscal treaty referendum: (More) fear and loathing in the eurozone?
11 May 2012
Ireland votes on the EU’s new fiscal compact on May 31st. Hugo Brady assesses the chances of a Yes and the consequences of a No.
Germany's choice: Higher inflation or sovereign defaults
09 May 2012
Germany faces a choice between higher inflation or a wave of sovereign defaults culminating in either a transfer union or the collapse of the eurozone.
Governance reforms have left the euro's flawed structure intact
18 April 2012
European leaders have presided over a major overhaul of the way the eurozone is run. But the eurozone's basic institutional configuration remains as unstable as ever.
The European Union budget 2014-20: More boldness needed
05 April 2012
Economic circumstances will make EU budget negotiations even more difficult than usual. Britain, France and Germany should drop their normal preconditions.
Tackling the scourge of youth unemployment
28 March 2012
European youth unemployment is unacceptably high. Governments are trying to push young people into work, despite weak demand: they would do better to educate them.
Stable public finances require stronger business investment
26 March 2012
Economic recovery in Europe is being held back by the unprecedented weakness of business investment. Despite a secular decline in business taxation and labour market reforms that have boosted the power of capital relative to labour, the ratio of investment-to-GDP across the EU is at a 60 year low. Rather...