Search

Begin New Search Political Geography Europe Publishing Institution Centre for European Policy Studies

51. Unleashing Competition in EU Business Services

Author:
Henk L.M. Kox
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
In most EU member states, the business services industry has booked no productivity growth during the last two decades. The industry's performance in the other member states was weaker than that of its US counterparts. Exploring what may be causing this productivity stagnation, this policy brief reports that weak competition has contributed to the continuing malaise in European business services. The study analyzed the persistence (over time) of firm-level inefficiencies. The evidence further suggests that competition between small firms and large firms in business services is weak. Markets for business services work best in countries with flexible regulation on employment change and with low regulatory costs for firms that start up or close down a business. Countries that are more open to foreign competition perform better in terms of competitive selection and productivity.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

52. Banking Union: A federal model for the European Union with prompt corrective action

Author:
Stefano Micossi, Jacopo Carmassi, and Carmine Di Noia
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
The European Commission has published its proposals for the transfer of supervisory responsibilities to the European Central Bank (ECB), under Article 127(6) of the TFEU, providing a comprehensive and courageous 'first step' towards a European banking Union, the other steps being European deposit insurance and resolution procedures. However, on a number of issues the Commission's chosen path raises questions that should be brought out in the open and fully recognized before final deliberation by the Council.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
Europe

53. The EU's Promotion of External Democracy: In search of the plot

Author:
Anne Wetzel and Jan Orbie
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
While the EU has recently upgraded its external democracy promotion policies through a set of initiatives such as the “Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity with the Southern Mediterranean”, the proposal for a “European Endowment of Democracy”, and the “Strategic Framework and Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy”, there is one challenge that it has not yet addressed: what exactly does it aim to support?
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Civil Society, Democratization, Economics, and Sociology
Political Geography:
Europe

54. A European Deposit Insurance and Resolution Fund - An Update

Author:
Daniel Gros and Dirk Schoenmaker
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Cross-border banking is currently not stable in Europe. Cross-border banks need a European safety net. Moreover, a truly integrated European level banking system may help to break the diabolical loop between the solvency of the domestic banking system and the fiscal standing of the national sovereign.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
Europe

55. Public and Private Regulation: Mapping the Labyrinth

Author:
Andrea Renda and Fabrizio Cafaggi
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Private governance is currently being evoked as a viable solution to many public policy goals. However, in some circumstances it has shown to produce more harm than good, and even disastrous consequences as in the case of the financial crisis that is raging in most advanced economies. Although the current track record of private regulatory schemes is mixed, policy guidance documents around the world still require that policy-makers give priority to self-and co-regulation, with little or no additional guidance being given to policymakers to devise when, and under what circumstances, these solutions can prove viable from a public policy perspective. With an array of examples from several policy fields, this paper approaches regulation as a public-private collaborative form and attempts to identify possible policy tools to be applied by public policy-makers to efficiently and effectively approach private governance as a solution, rather than a problem. We propose a six-step theoretical framework and argue that IA techniques should: i) define an integrated framework including both the possibility that private regulation can be used as an alternative or as a complement to public legislation; ii) involve private parties in public IAs in order to define the best strategy or strategies that would ensure achievement of the regulatory objectives; and iii) contemplate the deployment of indicators related to governance and activities of the regulators and their ability to coordinate and solve disputes with other regulators.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe

56. Shale Gas and the EU Internal Gas Market: Beyond the Hype and Hysteria

Author:
Jonas Teusch
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This paper analyses the interplay between shale gas and the EU internal gas market. Drawing on data presented in the 2012 International Energy Agency's report on unconventional gas and additional scenario analyses performed by the Joint Research Centre, the paper is based on the assumption that shale gas will not fundamentally change the EU's dependence on foreign gas supplies. It argues that attention should be shifted away from hyping shale gas to completing the internal gas market. Two main reasons are given for this. First, the internal gas market is needed to enable shale gas development in countries where there is political support for shale gas extraction. And second, a well-functioning internal gas market would, arguably, contribute much more to Europe's security of supply than domestic shale gas exploitation. This has important implications for the shale gas industry. As it is hard to see how subsidies or exemptions from environmental legislation could be justified, shale gas development in Europe will only go ahead if it proves to be both economically and environmentally viable. It is thus up to the energy industry to demonstrate that this is the case.
Topic:
Security, Economics, Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Resources, and Famine
Political Geography:
Europe

57. What Germany should fear most is its own fear: An analysis of Target2 and current account imbalances

Author:
Paul De Grauwe and Yuemei Ji
Publication Date:
09-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This paper analyzes two claims that have been made about the Target2 payment system. The first one is that this system has been used to support unsustainable current account deficits of Southern European countries. The second one is that the large accumulation of Target2 claims by the Bundesbank represents an unacceptable risk for Germany if the eurozone were to break up. We argue that these claims are unfounded. They also lead to unnecessary fears in Germany that make a solution of the eurozone crisis more difficult. Ultimately, this fear increases the risk of a break-up of the eurozone. Or to paraphrase Franklin Roosevelt, what Germany should fear most is simply its own fear.
Topic:
Economics, Regional Cooperation, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

58. Commission v. Gazprom: The antitrust clash of the decade?

Author:
Alan Riley
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
It may well be that the Gazprom antitrust case launched by DG Competition on September 4th will turn out to be the landmark antitrust case of this decade, as Microsoft was of the last decade. The argument of this paper is that, for a host of political and economic reasons, this case is likely to be hard fought by both sides to a final prohibition decision and then onwards into the EU courts. In the process, the European gas market and the powers of DG Competition in the energy field are likely to be transformed.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Natural Resources, and Law
Political Geography:
Europe

59. Monetary Policy and Banking Supervision: Coordination instead of separation

Author:
Daniel Gros and Thorsten Beck
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
The June 2012 European Council decided that the legal basis for the 'Single Supervisory Mechanism' should be Article 127(6) of the Treaty, and that the SSM should 'involve' the ECB. This implies only that supervision should be concentrated within the ECB. In the policy discussion it is, however, generally taken for granted that there should be 'Chinese walls' between the supervisory and monetary policy arms of the ECB. The current legislative proposal is explicit on this account.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Monetary Policy, and Governance
Political Geography:
China and Europe

60. Stepping up Growth Policies

Author:
Stefano Micossi
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
The eurozone is in recession and will show negative growth in 2012; GDP will fall sharply in Greece and Portugal, and there is substantial risk that Spain and Italy will follow suit (the Commission's recent forecasts seem overly optimistic and complacent; the IMF is more downbeat). But fiscal policies are uniformly restrictive throughout the eurozone and much of the Union, and the hopes that fiscal consolidation could spur growth by improving household and business confidence are not materialising. In reality, domestic demand has been hit too hard by fiscal consolidation, and investment throughout the Union remains well below pre- crisis levels. Credit is tight due to the deteriorating quality of borrowers and the ongoing deleveraging in banking.
Topic:
Economics, Foreign Exchange, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe and Greece