Single market, competition & trade
A credible competition process
02 December 2002
The European Commission's handling of competition policy is facing a crisis of credibility. In the last six months, the Commission which had never previously lost a merger case has suffered three reversals in the European Court of Justice.
The EU's budget: Time to go back to basics
02 December 2002
The EU's summit in November descended into a nasty row between EU leaders about the Union's finances. The dilemma member-states face is how to finance enlargement the accession of ten, poorer countries without taking funds away from current EU members or pushing spending above the existing budget ceiling of 1.27 per cent of EU GDP.
Issue 27 - 2002
29 November 2002
- The EU's budget: Time to go back to basics , Friedrich Heinemann
- A credible competition process , Alasdair Murray
- Why Europe does not need a new president , Peter Sutherland
The future of European agriculture
01 November 2002
The need to reform European farm policies has never been clearer. Although the Brussels European Council in October put a ceiling on farm spending, the Commission's 'mid-term review' of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will continue, and there is a real chance to change the policy's priorities over the next few years.
A half-finished job: The EU’s financial services action plan
01 November 2002
At the Lisbon summit in March 2000, EU heads of government signed up to an ambitious programme designed to achieve a viable single market in financial services by 2005. The financial services action plan (FSAP) is an attempt to reduce the legal obstacles which still prevent businesses – whether retail...
How to reform the European Central Bank
11 October 2002
Europe's macro-economic policy framework is in trouble. Eurozone inflation continues to overshoot the ECB's 'reference value' of 2 per cent. Yet businesses and policy-makers are pleading with the ECB for lower interest rates.
European economic reform: Tackling the delivery deficit
04 October 2002
The EU has set itself a series of ambitious economic reform goals but has so far failed to deliver on its promises. Alasdair Murray argues in this report that the Convention on the future of Europe and the forthcoming inter governmental conference provide an opportunity for the EU to think afresh about how it can overcome the institutional obstacles to economic reform.
New designs for Europe
04 October 2002
Everybody agrees that the EU's institutions are in bad need of reform. In the Convention on the Future of Europe, and elsewhere, a real debate has begun on how Europe should be governed.
New rules for capital markets
01 August 2002
The fallout from the Enron and WorldCom corporate scandals in the United States will resonate through global securities markets for years to come.
Reforming the commission
01 August 2002
The fallout from the Enron and WorldCom corporate scandals in the United States will resonate through global securities markets for years to come.
Issue 25 - 2002
26 July 2002
- Don't create Eastern Eurosceptics, Heather Grabbe
- New rules for capital markets, Alasdair Murray
- Reforming the commission , Alasdair Murray
Issue 24 - 2002
31 May 2002
- A 'competence catalogue' is code for protectionism, Ulrike Guérot
- Europe's future is in Ireland's hands , Daniel Keohane
- Playing the European game , Antonio Missiroli
Closing the delivery deficit: The future of economic governance in Europe
03 May 2002
The EU has set itself a series of highly ambitious economic goals to fulfil in the next decade. Eurozone countries are committed to ensuring the longterm health of the single currency, which will mean further economic integration. The Union will need to incorporate successfully at least ten dynamic but diverse...
Learning from Europe: Lessons in education
03 May 2002
'Learning from Europe' is a significant contribution to the debate on how our public services can be improved, drawing on lessons from other European countries.
The Barcelona scorecard: The status of economic reform in the enlarging EU
03 May 2002
Only a new 'High Representative for Economic Policy' can ensure the EU meets its 2010 target of becoming "the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world".
The EU needs a flexible pact
01 April 2002
The decision of EU finance ministers in February 2002 to ignore a Commission proposal to warn Germany and Portugal over the level of their budget deficits has jeopardised the credibility of the Stability and Growth Pact.
Issue 23 - 2002
29 March 2002
- Restoring leadership to the European council , Charles Grant
- The EU needs a flexible pact , Alasdair Murray
The Barcelona European Council
01 March 2002
The EU's ten-year plan to transform itself into "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010" is running out of steam. The forthcoming summit in Barcelona on March 15 and 16 needs to reenergise Europe's faltering commitment to the 'Lisbon agenda' of economic reform.
Getting from Lisbon to Warsaw
18 February 2002
The goal of joining the European Union is now tantalizingly close for many central and Eastern countries. The bigger question is what kind of EU are they joining? For much of the past decade, policy-makers and business leaders in the candidate countries have assumed accession is a sure-fire path to economic prosperity.
The future of EU competition policy
01 February 2002
This report calls for a radical rethink of how competition policy is run. The author argues for a new 'European Competition Agency' to take the politics out of merger and anti-trust investigations.