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2912. A New Framework for Euro-Med Cooperation on Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Support: The Role of the Union for the Mediterranean
- Author:
- Rym Ayadi and Antonio Fanelli
- Publication Date:
- 05-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Security Studies
- Abstract:
- Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are the driving force behind economic development in the Mediterranean. They perform an essential role as providers of employment and innovation opportunities and act as key players for regional and local development and social cohesion.
- Topic:
- Industrial Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe
2913. Lobbying the European Parliament: A necessary evil
- Author:
- Maja Kluger Rasmussen
- Publication Date:
- 05-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Despite the growth of lobbying in the EU over the past two decades, the EU has taken a rather laissezfaire approach to regulating lobbying activity. While the European Parliament (EP) is in many ways more transparent and more accessible than many of the EU's national parliaments, the code of conduct for lobbyists and the Parliament's own rules of procedure are rather vague. As a result of the 'cash for laws' scandal, the EP President, Jerzy Buzek, has established a working group to draw up a new set of rules to govern the access and behaviour of lobbyists and to formulate a code of conduct for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The working group is currently considering seven proposals put forward by Jerzy Buzek, including a mandatory lobbying register for all EU institutions; a strengthening of MEPs' declarations of financial interests, with more frequent updates; a code of conduct for MEPs; a 'legislative footprint' for rapporteurs and tougher sanctions for non-compliance with these rules. While the reform proposal, as it stands now, offers a significant improvement of the Parliament's current rules, it does not go far enough, however.
- Topic:
- Regional Cooperation and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Europe
2914. Labour Immigration Policy in the EU: A Renewed Agenda for Europe 2020
- Author:
- Sergio Carrera, Elspeth Guild, Anaïs Faure Atger, and Dora Kostakopoulou
- Publication Date:
- 04-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The EU's capacity for a legitimate, coherent and migrants' rights compliant policy on labour immigration is now more than ever at a test in light of the political priorities set in the EU's 2020 Strategy and the effects of the revolutions and war in North African states during the last four months. This Policy Brief examines the incoherencies characterising the current generation of EU's labour immigration policies and the challenges towards ensuring a global rights-based approach to migration. The analysis carried out in this paper is accompanied by a synthesis of the main policy recommendations discussed at the Workshop on “The Next Phase of EU Labour Immigration Policy: Enhancing Policy Coherence and Advancing a Rights-Based Approach” organised in the context of the Conference “State of the Union: Brussels Think Tank Dialogue 2011” in January 2011.
- Topic:
- Labor Issues and Immigration
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Europe
2915. The EU's Response to the Financial Crisis: A mid-term review
- Author:
- Karel Lannoo
- Publication Date:
- 04-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Two years after the London G-20, CEPS Chief Executive Karel Lannoo finds that the EU is well advanced in delivering on the commitments made for the 2013 target date. Important steps have been taken on the institutional side, and regulatory changes are moving ahead. On some issues, in fact, such as remuneration, the EU has made even greater headway than the US. But certain key sensitive matters remain, such as bank resolution or structural changes.
- Topic:
- Debt, Economics, Global Recession, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, and London
2916. Can the eurozone countries still live together happily ever after?
- Author:
- Marcello Messori
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- After the Greek public debt crisis and the bilateral loans to Greece from the other members of the European Monetary Union (EMU), in May 2010 the Ecofin Council launched the European Financial Stabilization Mechanism (EFSM). In June of the same year the EMU countries instituted the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). These two mechanisms, which are charged with providing support to EMU countries in “exceptional difficulty”, received their baptism of fire with Ireland in January 2011 and successfully made their first bond issue on the market.
- Topic:
- Debt, Economics, and Monetary Policy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Greece
2917. Restoring financial stability in the euro area
- Author:
- Christian Kopf
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The pricing of sovereign credit risk is a necessary component of the financial architecture of the European Monetary Union. However, unnecessarily high and volatile risk premia on government bonds are currently preventing effective financial intermediation within the euro area, thereby inhibiting its economic recovery. Several proposals have been made on how these risk premia should be brought down, namely i) permanent pooling of funding through joint bond issuance, ii) temporary liquidity assistance through multilateral funds, iii) debt buybacks using multilateral funds, and iv) debt restructuring.
- Topic:
- Debt, Economics, Global Recession, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Europe
2918. Spillovers from the Arab Revolts: Is Armenia next in line?
- Author:
- Hrant Kostanyan
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The recent cycle of revolutions in Arab countries has caught policy-makers and experts off guard. The decades-long kleptocracy, systemic corruption, economic stagnation and censorship are merely some of named causes accounting for the shake-up of the old order in Europe's Southern Neighbourhood. The choices that citizens were deprived of making through the ballot box have been accomplished by taking to the streets. Policymakers and analysts are contemplating the possible scenarios for the countries that have finally brought down their dictators. EU leaders are debating support they can provide to help in the establishment of 'good governance.' Meanwhile questions are being asked about the possible implications of the successful revolutions beyond the Arab world and especially for the EU's Eastern neighbours. In his recent speech, the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, stated: “Although recent developments concentrated our political attention to the South, we certainly cannot afford to forget about the Union's Eastern neighbourhood.”
- Topic:
- Insurgency
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Caucasus, Arab Countries, and Armenia
2919. On the Tasks of the European Stability Mechanism
- Author:
- Stefano Micossi, Fabrizia Peirce, and Jacopo Carmassi
- Publication Date:
- 03-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- In recent weeks pressures on the euro and eurozone sovereign debtors have subsided. Buoyant growth in the global economy, increasingly benefiting also the European economy, has of course played an important role in calming financial markets. But even more important has been the perception that France and Germany are again working constructively for a strong economic Europe. More broadly, the acute turbulence in financial markets since the spring of 2010 may have finally convinced our political leaders, notably including the German political establishment, that the benefits of a stable currency far outweigh the costs that may have to be borne to make it work properly. The euro will only be trusted if the member states effectively coordinate their economic policies not only to ensure fiscal stability, but also to eliminate persistent divergences in productivity leading to unsustainable imbalances between national savings and investment (Schäuble, 2011).
- Topic:
- Security, Economics, Regional Cooperation, Monetary Policy, Financial Crisis, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- Europe, France, and Germany
2920. The Case for 'More Single Market'
- Author:
- Jacques Pelkmans
- Publication Date:
- 02-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- With the Commission's consultation period on the Single Market Act (European Commission, 2010) nearing its end, it is high time for the EU to get its act together. Priority should immediately be restored to the issue of the Single Market, and EU powers to deepen and widen the internal market, where economically justifiable, ought to be utilized to the full. This CEPS Policy Brief explains why.
- Topic:
- Economics and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe