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601. Implementing Basel III in Europe: Diagnosis and avenues for improvement

Author:
Rym Ayadi, Emrah Arbak, and Willem Pieter De Groen
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
Adopted by the European Commission in July 2011, the proposed Capital Requirements Directive and Regulation (CRD IV-CRR) translate into EU law the Basel III standards adopted by the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision (BCBS). Among other things, the proposal increases the quality and quantity of the minimum capital; introduces new rules on liquidity, leverage ratios, counter-cyclical buffers and systemically important financial institutions; and amends the definitions of counterparty credit risk and rules for the banking book. The rules complement the earlier amendments that strengthened the capital and disclosure requirements for the trading book and resecuritization instruments as well as requirements to ensure that remuneration policies do not lead to excessive risk-taking.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe

602. An Agenda for the European Council: Feasible steps to bring the eurozone back from the precipice

Author:
Stefano Micossi
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
Once again the European Council will meet in an emergency session at the end of June, with the eurozone economy in recession and actually plummeting in its Southern periphery. Further doubts are also growing on the sustainability of sovereign debts due to the vicious spiral of deteriorating bank balance sheets, ballooning potential liabilities from banking rescues and widening spreads on government borrowings. The sovereign debt crisis in the periphery has now turned into a fully fledged banking crisis that threatens to spread from Greece to Spain and tomorrow, who knows, to Italy, France and even Germany itself.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Regional Cooperation, Financial Crisis, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe, Greece, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy

603. Europe's Recurrent Employment Problems

Author:
Daniel Gros
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
As the euro crisis continues and unemployment climbs to new heights, the clamour calling for Europe to 'do something' is getting louder. But the real question is: can Europe, or rather the EU, do 'something' that would actually have a real impact on unemployment? In other words, does a European plan or employment strategy make sense?
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Labor Issues, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe

604. The Euro Crisis: Implications for the Internal Market and Harmonisation of Corporate Taxes

Author:
H. Onno Ruding
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
The so-called 'euro crisis' is of the utmost economic, financial and political importance for all member countries of the euro area and for the future of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). In my view, however, it is not primarily a euro crisis in the strict sense. The euro itself is of course involved, but, as a currency with a rather stable exchange rate vis-à-vis other currencies and with a major role in global financial markets, it is not at the heart of the crisis. Rather the crisis is a matter of the serious imbalances in the economies of several euro-area countries, particularly their budget deficits and sovereign debts and as well as their lack of competitiveness and balance-of-payments deficits.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

605. Self-Fulfilling Crises in the Eurozone: An Empirical Test

Author:
Paul De Grauwe and Yuemei Ji
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
This paper tests the hypothesis that government bond markets in the eurozone are more fragile and more susceptible to self-fulfilling liquidity crises than in stand-alone countries. We find evidence that a significant part of the surge in the spreads of the PIGS countries (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) in the eurozone during 2010-11 was disconnected from underlying increases in the debt-to-GDP ratios and fiscal space variables, and was the result of negative self-fulfilling market sentiments that became very strong since the end of 2010. We argue that this can drive member countries of the eurozone into bad equilibria.
Topic:
Economics, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe

606. A European Deposit Insurance and Resolution Fund

Author:
Daniel Gros and Dirk Schoenmaker
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
The eurozone is caught in a 'diabolical loop' in which weak domestic banking systems damage sovereign fiscal positions and conversely, in which risky sovereign positions disproportionately threaten domestic banking stability. A European-level banking system could go a long way towards breaking this unfortunate loop and stabilising the eurozone. This would require a European safety net for cross-border banks.
Topic:
Economics, Regional Cooperation, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe

607. Europeanising labour migration policies and pursuing national objectives

Author:
Katrine Borg Albertsen
Publication Date:
07-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
The EU Blue Card scheme offers skilled labour migrants access to, and onward mobility within, the EU labour market. Due to its justice and home affairs opt-out Denmark is cut off from participation, and instead pursues national schemes for high-skilled labour migration. It is in the best interests of both Denmark and the EU to pursue fully integrated strategic goals aimed at producing a competitive joint policy on economic migration.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, Migration, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
Europe

608. Prospects for Global Growth in 2012

Author:
Onur Bayramoğlu
Publication Date:
03-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Global Political Trends Center (GPoT)
Abstract:
The current concern among many is that what we are faced today is not a usual crisis that is part of the economic cycle, but an era of great stagnation with low growth and high unemployment, not witnessed since the Great Depression of the 1930's. One wonders which country will drive global growth while major actors such as the European Union are now financial casinos, the United States is continuously losing its dynamism, Japan is struggling under demographical problems, and the emerging markets are still too small and volatile. Once again, policy makers acknowledge that the problems of growth are global and systematic; such that if one faces an issue, all of them get contaminated. However, they still seek for solutions in mercantilist national policies.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

609. Sovereign Debtors in Distress: Are Our Institutions Up to the Challenge?

Author:
Susan Schadler
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
Global economic developments over the past two years have dashed hopes that the risks of sovereign debt crises have been tamed. The turmoil in Europe has, of course, been the most acute of these developments, but growing national fiscal imbalances, anemic prospects for growth and the expanding reach of private financial markets to newly emerging economies are potent, if less immediately threatening, signs of the risks ahead. After lying dormant for almost a decade, pressing questions about whether global institutions are capable of containing the costs of debt crises are again being raised.
Topic:
Debt, Economics, Globalization, Political Economy, Financial Crisis, and Governance
Political Geography:
Europe

610. A Sovereign Wealth Fund to Lift Germany's Curse of Excess Savings

Author:
Daniel Gros and Thomas Mayer
Publication Date:
08-2012
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Abstract:
For most of the time since the early 1950s, national savings in Germany have tended to exceed national investment, resulting in a current account surplus. Most of these excess savings have been intermediated by the domestic banking system, which has had difficulties investing these German surpluses abroad given that it is prohibited by law from taking any exchange rate risk. This tended to keep the surplus within limits most of the time (less than 1- 2% of GDP). With the advent of the euro, however, German surpluses could become much larger and seem now to have become structurally engrained at 6% of GDP, or over one-quarter of savings. Since the start of the euro crisis, German private savers have repatriated their investments – effectively unloading their exposure onto the public sector as German banks have deposited hundreds of billions of euro at the Bundesbank. These funds are being lent by the ECB to banks in the euro area periphery (at 75 bps) – ensuring effectively a negative real return.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Sovereign Wealth Funds
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany