“A new chapter for Europe” By Prof. Dr. Henning Vöpel, HWWI Was the outcome of the EU summit a step forward or back for Europe? We don’t know for sure yet. At least the summit means a further evolution of Europe. Europe has always developed in small steps – mostly under the conditions of threat, turmoil […]
Tag: Europe
Europe Needs the “Frugal 5” – Now More Than Ever
By Dr. Barbara Kolm, Austrian Economics Center Unprecedented. This is quite possibly the best word to describe the recovery measures the European Union has come up with over the weekend to thwart the dramatic economic effects COVID-19 will have on the continent. As part of the Recovery Fund program, EU leaders have agreed to […]
Mobility barriers to Euro health workers hamper COVID response
“Demand and supply of health professional: imbalances are prevailing” By Isilda Mara, courtesy of WiiW The retirement of baby boomers, the rise in life expectancy and the aging of the population are all warning signs that the demand for health professionals is bound to expand. Now COVID-19 has shown how exposed European countries […]
Social capital associated with lower COVID-19 rates
“Does social capital help contain COVID-19?” Courtesy of IZA Since the beginning of this year, the novel coronavirus has rapidly spread throughout the world, affecting the lives, health, and livelihoods of people all around the globe. With no medical solution available yet, the key margin to contain the spread of the pandemic is […]
Europe must prepare for life after oil
By Nafeez Ahmed, courtesy of the European Policy Centre Oil prices have crashed. The most visible cause has been the measures taken to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, which have triggered record lows in global oil demand. Yet the crisis also exposes structural vulnerabilities in our fossil fuel-dependent economic system, which requires us […]
With emergency measures, European fiscal divide deepens
“ECB calls for European Integration via a Common Fiscal Policy Response” By Gordon Kerr, Cavin O’Driscoll and Enrico Colombatto, courtesy of IREF ECB President Lagarde announced a keenly awaited new policy statement on April 30th. There was to be no increase to the Euros 750 billion Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP), but the economic […]
Public health responses and their economic costs
“The consequences of the Covid-19 lockdown: what does history teach us?” By Sergio Beraldo, courtesy of IREF Last February, this website hosted an article titled “The unintended consequences of coronavirus”. At the time the article was published, the situation was not at all dramatic in Europe. For example, the official Covid-19 […]
Europe urgently needs a capital markets union
By Maria Demertzis, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute Necessary though it was, the temporary relaxation of state aid rules in the EU has brought grave unintended consequences. Through indiscriminate support, the EU is rapidly moving from an even playing field that promotes the “survival of the fittest” to a situation where only those […]
EU Green Deal: Avoid emissions whackamole
“Financing Europe’s Green Deal: Beware of the Waterbed Effect” By Daniel Gros and Milan Elkerbout, courtesy of CEPS Big numbers are always a good way to attract attention. 1 thousand billion euros of investment is the headline figure of the ‘Sustainable Europe Investment Plan’ the European Commission recently presented to the European Parliament. […]
Say no to EU carbon border tax
“A European carbon border tax: much pain, little gain” By Ben McWilliams and Georg Zachmann, courtesy of the Bruegel Institute The European Green Deal has set a target of reducing European Union carbon emissions by about 40 per cent over the next ten years. Reaching this target is likely to involve a significant […]