The euro

Can national parliaments make the EU legitimate?

Can national parliaments make the EU more legitimate?

10 June 2013
The euro crisis has hit the EU's legitimacy. Part of the answer is to give national parliamentarians a bigger role in the EU.
The CER commission on the UK and the single market

The CER commission on the UK and the single market

07 June 2013
The CER's commission was launched this week. Policy experts, economists and business people will examine the economic case for and against EU membership.
A dose of inflation would help the eurozone medicine go down

A dose of inflation would help the eurozone medicine go down

Simon Tilford
16 May 2013
Eurozone policy-makers are complacent about the risks of low inflation. If the euro is to survive, inflation will need to rise significantly, especially in Germany.
European austerity: Turn or TINA?

European austerity: Turn or TINA?

Simon Tilford
25 April 2013
Despite the overwhelming weight of evidence, both empirical and theoretical, many policy-makers will continue to trot out Margaret Thatcher's favourite line: there is no alternative.
It’s the politics, stupid!

It's the politics, stupid!

Simon Tilford
25 March 2013
Many economists have been accused of being too gloomy about the euro because they underestimate the degree of political commitment that eurozone countries have made to the euro.
Eurozone slump derails Britain's economic strategy thumbnail

Eurozone slump derails Britain's economic strategy

Simon Tilford
28 January 2013
The British government's drive to rebalance the UK economy has foundered on falling exports to the EU; UK exports to the rest of the world are booming.
the ECB done enough to save the euro?

Has the ECB done enough to save the euro?

25 January 2013
The ECB may have done enough to stop euro break-up for now, but markets are likely to test its willingness to buy government debt.
Europe places too much faith in supply-side policies

Europe places too much faith in supply-side policies

Simon Tilford
18 January 2013
The damage done to Europe's growth potential by very low investment and mass unemployment is likely to offset the benefits of structural reforms.
Austerity report

Europe's future in an age of austerity

John Springford, Philip Whyte, Simon Tilford
18 December 2012
The CER invited leading economists and policy-makers to debate the implications of fiscal austerity for economic, political and monetary stability.
A multi-tier Europe? The political consequences of the euro crisis

A multi-tier Europe? The political consequences of the euro crisis

Katinka Barysch
07 December 2012
Euro members must integrate more to save the single currency. But will a two-tier EU destroy the single market and lose the support of the people?
What a banking union means for Europe

What a banking union means for Europe

Philip Whyte
05 December 2012
A full banking union is needed to stabilise the eurozone. However, even an embryonic union could drive a wedge between the eurozone and the EU-27.
Germany's opposition and the euro crisis

Germany's opposition and the euro crisis

Katinka Barysch
26 November 2012
Although Germany’s next general election is not scheduled until October 2013, the campaign started in earnest on 28 September 2012.
Eurozone: Trouble in the core?

Eurozone: Trouble in the core?

Simon Tilford
26 November 2012
Many people lazily assume that the eurozone is now split into a strong, prosperous core and a weak, depressed periphery.
Will the euro crisis lead to the break-up of EU member-states?

Will the euro crisis lead to the break-up of EU member-states?

Tomas Valasek
24 October 2012
The crisis is fuelling separatism in Spain and Belgium. But elsewhere in Europe separatists do poorly. Scotland's example may yet discourage others from following Catalonia and Flanders.
Political Union

Alice in euroland: What political union for the single currency?

Philip Whyte
09 October 2012
The eurozone needs to be embedded in a 'political union' if it is to work better. The question is: what sort of political union?
Eurozone: Are the building blocks falling into place?

Eurozone: Are the building blocks falling into place?

Simon Tilford
26 September 2012
On the face of it, September was a good month for the euro. For once, market expectations were met. The European Central Bank (ECB) belatedly opened the way for action to address the ruinous polarisation of government borrowing costs in the eurozone.
Bulletin issue 86

Issue 86 - 2012

Clara Marina O'Donnell, Hugo Brady, Simon Tilford
26 September 2012
François Hollande

Hollande, the Germans and 'political union'

25 September 2012
François Hollande wants a more equal Franco-German relationship. But tensions over managing the eurozone crisis and reforming EU treaties are straining that relationship.