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512. Gains from Harmonizing US and EU Auto Regulations under the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
- Author:
- Caroline Freund and Sarah Oliver
- Publication Date:
- 06-2015
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- Regulatory standards protect consumers from defective products, but they impede trade when they differ across countries. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) seeks to reduce distortions in the automobile and other industries. Freund and Oliver evaluate the equivalence of automobile regulations in the United States and the European Union in terms of catastrophe avoidance and estimate the trade gains from harmonization. The UN 1958 Agreement on automobiles, which harmonizes regulations among signatories, is used to quantify the trade effect of regulatory convergence. The removal of regulatory differences in autos is estimated to increase trade by 20 percent or more. The effect on trade from harmonizing standards is only slightly smaller than the effect of EU accession on auto trade. The large economic gains from regulatory harmonization imply that TTIP has the potential to improve productivity while lowering prices and enhancing variety for consumers.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
513. A Multi-Speed EU? An Institutional and Legal Assessment
- Author:
- Giuseppe Martinico
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- Asymmetry has frequently been experimented within federalising processes, especially in those federal or quasi-federal contexts characterised by the coexistence of different legal and cultural backgrounds (Canada, for instance). By adopting a comparative approach, this paper offers a reflection on asymmetry as an instrument of differentiated integration in the current phase of the EU integration process. It aims to show the potential of the concept and some of the risks connected to its use.
- Topic:
- Markets, Regional Cooperation, Culture, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe
- Publication Identifier:
- 978-88-98650-73-6
- Publication Identifier Type:
- DOI
514. Towards European Electoral and Party Systems
- Author:
- Enrico Calossi
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- Although much progress has been achieved in the last sixty years, the European Union still lacks a unique electoral system and a proper party system. Recently some changes have been proposed or introduced in order to homogenise the national electoral systems of the EP and to strengthen political parties at the EU level. Andrew Duff’s proposal for a transnational party list; the establishment of European political foundations in 2007; the updating of the Statute of the European political parties in 2014; the designation of the Spitzekandidaten by Europarties were all useful attempts. More could be done. National democracies can become sources of inspiration for new proposals. Some suggestions may require new formal regulations. Others are more informal or political, and would give political actors new opportunities on voluntary bases.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Political Economy, Regional Cooperation, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe
- Publication Identifier:
- 978-88-98650-72-9
- Publication Identifier Type:
- DOI
515. Financing SMEs in Europe: Stylised Facts, Policies, Challenges
- Author:
- Daniele Ciani, Paolo Finaldi Russo, and Valerio Vacca
- Publication Date:
- 12-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- This paper describes the main features of European SMEs’ financial behaviour and the policies recently put in place to support their funding. European SMEs are structurally more leveraged and charged with higher interest rates than large firms. Moreover, the crisis has deeply affected their fund-raising capacity, as banks reduced credit supply while non-bank funding was unavailable to most SMEs. Against this background, EU has focussed its policies on long-term investment and on a more favourable environment for SMEs financing, including through the launch of the Capital Markets Union. At the national level, most governments have provided guarantees and enhanced the role of national development banks. Nevertheless, key issues are still outstanding, such as the funding of innovative firms and the improvement of transparency and of the legal and regulatory frameworks.
- Topic:
- Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe
- Publication Identifier:
- 978-88-98650-71-2
- Publication Identifier Type:
- DOI
516. Italy and the Renegotiation of the UK's EU Membership
- Author:
- Riccardo Alcaro
- Publication Date:
- 11-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to campaign for the UK to stay in the EU in the incoming in-or-out referendum on the UK’s EU membership, but only if London succeeds in recalibrating its relationship with the Union. As the EU’s fourth largest country, Italy will play a crucial role in the negotiation. The challenge for Rome is to balance its long-standing commitment to strengthening European integration with the interest in keeping a country the size and influence of the UK in the EU. Matteo Renzi’s government should be supportive of British proposals about competitiveness, pragmatic as far as sovereignty issues are concerned, constructive but cautious regarding economic governance, and understanding of British concerns but also firm about immigration.
- Topic:
- Markets, Regional Cooperation, Immigration, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom and Europe
- Publication Identifier:
- 978-88-98650-70-5
- Publication Identifier Type:
- DOI
517. Overhauling EU Policy in the Mediterranean. Towards More Inclusive, Responsive and Flexible Policies
- Author:
- Daniela Huber and Maria Cristina Paciello
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- As the EU is reviewing its European Neighbourhood Policy, this paper calls for an entirely new approach that would give the EU a stake in the region by responding more effectively to key needs on both sides of the Mediterranean. It first outlines three strategic policy options for the EU – defensive, power-projecting and reflexive approaches – and analyses EU policies accordingly. After observing that EU policies in the Mediterranean since the Arab uprisings have oscillated between a defensive and a power-projecting approach, this paper discusses how EU policies could become more inclusive of key actors, more responsive to key challenges and more flexible on both the multilateral and the bilateral level.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Regional Cooperation, Power Politics, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe
- Publication Identifier:
- 978-88-98650-59-0
- Publication Identifier Type:
- DOI
518. The Migration and Asylum Crisis as a Transformative Shock for Europe. Brief Thoughts on the Eve of the Next Summit
- Author:
- Pastore Ferruccio
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- Never before was the lack of a single European government, or at least of a strong and effective European governance, as acutely felt as in these days. With wars and failed states in the neighbourhood, and an unstoppable exodus crossing Europe, the continent appears at once more interdependent and more fragmented than ever. A coherent model of governance, competent and cohesive, but above all empowered by a full democratic investiture, would be needed everyday, to cope with daily emergencies while painstakingly devising and developing a long-term strategy where such emergency responses would be framed. Instead, in spite of the remarkable efforts of creative leadership made by the Commission, we are “governed” (but the term sounds like a gross overstatement) by subsequent extraordinary summits, each summoned to remedy the failures of the previous one. What can thus be expected and what should be asked, in such dire circumstances, to the next of these ad hoc European Council meeting, scheduled on Wednesday 23 September?
- Topic:
- Migration, War, Fragile/Failed State, Governance, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe
- Publication Identifier:
- 978-88-98650-58-3
- Publication Identifier Type:
- DOI
519. On the Road to Paris: How Can the EU Avoid Failure at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 21)?
- Author:
- Lisanne Groen
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- At the 15th UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) meeting in Copenhagen in 2009, the European Union (EU) failed to achieve most of its objectives. In 2011, at the 17th COP meeting in Durban, the EU was crucial in bringing about a deal on a roadmap towards a new global climate change agreement, to be adopted in December 2015 at the 21st COP meeting in Paris. This paper examines the lessons the EU has learned and can learn from its experience in Copenhagen in the run-up to Paris. It considers, first, the EU’s relative bargaining power; second, the relative position of its objectives/interests mapped against those of other negotiating parties; and third, how the EU can leverage its relative power through strategic action in pursuit of its objectives. The paper recommends that the EU focus on building a broad alliance with other progressive negotiating parties on mitigation in order to avoid a lowest common denominator outcome.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Diplomacy, Industrial Policy, Treaties and Agreements, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe
- Publication Identifier:
- 978-88-98650-57-6
- Publication Identifier Type:
- DOI
520. Who's Afraid of … Migration? A New European Narrative of Migration
- Author:
- Stefano Volpicelli
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Istituto Affari Internazionali
- Abstract:
- Human mobility has changed profoundly since the onset of globalisation, with old patterns of south-north movement of male economic migrants being replaced by mixed flows of people moving because of a variety of needs and motivations. In Europe these changes have gone largely unnoticed and the discourse on migration has been conducted in a confused and contradictory way. Policies have swung between two poles: on one end the view of migrants as a problem rather than as an opportunity; on the other, the view of migrants as vulnerable people escaping poverty or persecution. Through the analysis of policies, juridical terminology, concepts and stereotypes, this paper proposes a three-step approach for a different narrative of migration to curb the political manipulation that, labelling migrants as a threat, is dangerously fuelling racism and discrimination towards “aliens”.
- Topic:
- Globalization, Migration, Political Economy, Poverty, and European Union
- Political Geography:
- Europe
- Publication Identifier:
- 978-88-98650-56-9
- Publication Identifier Type:
- DOI