By Rebecca Christie and Mathew Heim, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute The European Union, the world’s largest consumer market, needs a clearer vision for how it wants to manage competition and state subsidies affecting European markets and consumers. As business becomes ever more inter-connected, […]
Tag: eu
Is ECB stimulus too late?
While monetary “hawks” tend to reject any further monetary easing from the European Central Bank like the plague, doveish types are afraid that the ECB’s latest round of easing didn’t go far enough, and may have come too late anyway. The doves’ point […]
Don’t hold your breath for EU trade carveouts, unless dying sounds fun
Brexiters still hoping the EU will somehow grant the post-Brexit UK special exemptions from its common regulations governing foreign trade are in for more disappointment, warns FT columnist Wolfgang Münchau. That rules out the possibility of a “Canada-style” trade deal which […]
She’s baaaack: Vestager returns, more powerful than ever
Executives at Facebook, Google, Apple and other Big Tech firms would probably be happy to never again hear the name of Margrethe Vestager, the Danish competition supremo at the European Commission, who won fame (or infamy, depending on your point of view) as the […]
The world must join forces to save Amazon
Saving the Amazon rain forest, now under assault by Brazilian farmers and ranchers with the explicit assent of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, will be a global project requiring international cooperation by governments, citizens, and corporate interests, argues the Financial Times editorial board in an […]
No-deal Brexit will slam German economy — but don’t expect a Teutonic Hail Mary
It has long been an article of faith among hardline Brexit backers that the threat of a no-deal Brexit will motivate European leaders, terrified of its likely economic impact at home, to compromise with the UK at the last second on thorny issues […]
U.S. and Europe must present united front to China
Any country which tries to confront China’s unfair trade policies by itself, including rampant theft of IP and anti-competitive practices, is probably doomed to failure given the sheer size of the Chinese economy — and this judgment also applies to the United States, wielding […]
British politics spinning out of control even more, somehow
Combine an unwritten constitution, an apparently insoluble political problem and an unelected prime minister and what do you get? An unholy mess in the cradle of modern democracy, that’s what! Long regarded as the sensible sister, the UK is facing a political impasse over Brexit […]
Sorry Boris: EU won’t give up Irish backstop, Barnier warns
The UK appears to be moving quickly and firmly towards a “no-deal” Brexit, as the EU appears determined to rebuff Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s main demand in reopened negotiations on the draft withdrawal agreement — scrapping the so-called “Irish backstop,” […]
The EU-Mercosur Trade Deal and the Lunacy of Protectionism
By Federico N. Fernández, President of Fundación Internacional Bases, Senior Fellow with the Austrian Economics Center and TES Contributor The European Union (EU) and Mercosur signed a historical trade deal last Friday. The adjective historical is sometimes misused. However, in this case it is most pertinent. Indeed, the agreement […]