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361. Are the Balance of Payments Deficits in the Baltic Countries Sustainable?

Author:
Jorgen Drud Hansen and Morten Hansen
Publication Date:
07-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
For almost a decade all three Baltic countries have witnessed substantial deficits on the current accounts of the balance of payments. This paper discusses whether this situation should be a matter of concern. Recent literature on the sustainability of balance of payments deficits is reviewed and put into a Baltic context. The main conclusion is that the recurrent large deficits in the Baltic countries pose a risk for the fixed exchange-rate policies until the countries adopt the euro. In the longer term, large deficits will influence the time path of convergence of living standards between the Baltic countries and the EU as a whole.
Topic:
Development and Economics
Political Geography:
Europe and Eastern Europe

362. Towards a Proactive Immigration Policy for the EU?

Author:
Sergio Carrera and Joanna Apap
Publication Date:
12-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This report involves an assessment of the legislative progress achieved towards a proactive immigration policy regarding those described as 'third country nationals' (TCNs) entering into and residing legally in the European Union (EU). We also evaluate the extent to which the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the US had a real impact on the legislative developments and policy agenda in relation to this area.
Topic:
International Law and Migration
Political Geography:
Europe

363. Does venture capital investment spur employment growth?

Author:
Ansgar Belke, Rainer Fehn, and Neil Foster
Publication Date:
12-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Anglo-Saxon countries have been successful in the 1990s concerning labour market performance compared to the former role models of Germany and Japan. This reversal in relative economic performance might be related to idiosyncracies in financial markets, with bank-based financial markets as in Germany and Japan being possibly inferior to stock-market based financial markets in turbulent times and when approaching the economic frontier. A cleavage is related to venture capital markets which are flourishing in Anglo-Saxon but not in German-type financial markets. Venture capital is crucial for financing structural change, new firms and innovations and therefore possibly also nowadays for employment growth.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Japan, Europe, and Germany

364. European Institutional Models as Instruments of Conflict Resolution in the Divided States of the European Periphery

Author:
Michael Emerson, Nathalie Tocci, Bruno Coppieters, Marius Vahl, and Michel Huysseune
Publication Date:
07-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This study focuses on 'Europeanisation' as an instrument of conflict resolution in the south eastern periphery of the EU. By 'Europeanisation' we mean the cultural, legal, institutional and economic impact of European integration on domestic structures. The introduction of such institutional mechanisms and processes takes place at formal and informal levels. By European integration we do not only mean accession to the EU, but also participation in the wider European international organisations such as the OSCE, Council of Europe, NATO's Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council/Partnership for Peace (EAPC/PfP) and Confederation of Independent States (CIS). All these organisations have their own concepts of Europe.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Europe

365. Progress and Obstacles in the Area of Justice Home Affairs in an Enlarging Europe

Author:
Sergio Carrera and Joanna Apap
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This paper assesses the legislative achievements made so far in the objectives set by the Amsterdam Treaty and the Tampere European Council. It explores why a number of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) policy areas have experienced a greater degree of development or convergence than others. This is a most sensitive field of study that has been guarded as either an area of national sovereignty, or where sovereignty issues could be at stake. The existence of frictions and strains between member states can be considered as the main cause of differences in development. The way in which these frictions have affected the implementation of policy and how these may be further exacerbated by the forthcoming enlargement are equally analysed.
Topic:
Human Welfare and International Law
Political Geography:
Europe

366. Fiscal Policy in the New Open Economy Macroeconomics and Prospects for Fiscal Policy, Coordination

Author:
Leonor Coutinho
Publication Date:
06-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
This paper reviews the analysis of fiscal policy in the new open economy macro-economics literature, in view of increasing interest in the question of transmission and coordination of policies across countries, stirred by developments in this literature and by the formation of the euro area. The analysis focuses on two main points: (i) the identification of welfare spillover effects to third countries; and (ii) the assessments made so far of the potential gains from pursuing non-cooperative and cooperative fiscal stabilisation policies. Regarding welfare spillovers, some additional results are derived to examine whether the exchange rate regime (flexible or fixed) matters for the size of these spillovers, and whether the type of policy pursued (balanced-budget or debt-financed) matters. Fixed exchange rates only seem to postpone the costs from the short to the long run, but the type of policy is crucial in determining the welfare impact of fiscal expansions. With respect to policy coordination, attention is drawn to the need to reflect on a potential role for fiscal policy as a stabilisation tool, and on possible interactions between fiscal and monetary policy.
Topic:
Economics and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Europe

367. Trade Policy Issues for the Euro-Med Partnership

Author:
Paul Brenton and Miriam Manchin
Publication Date:
05-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
The economic prospects of the Mediterranean countries are currently constrained by the lack of ambition in their relationships with each other and with their major export market, the EU. These economic relationships are limited by a lack of coverage (agriculture and services are effectively excluded), by a lack of depth (substantial technical barriers to trade remain due to differences in regulatory requirements and the need to duplicate testing and conformity assessment when selling in overseas markets), and they are limited by rules (restrictive rules of origin and lack of cumulation limit effective market access). In addition, the rest of Europe, including Turkey, is integrating at a faster pace to create a Wider European Economic Space. If nothing is done to invigorate the integration process in the Mediterranean, then the region will fall (further) behind relative to other regions on the periphery of the EU, such as the Balkans and Russia and the Ukraine.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Turkey, Ukraine, Middle East, and Balkans

368. The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership: Unique Features, First Results and Future Challenges

Author:
Eric Philippart
Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Many things have changed since the launch of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP). Despite the virtual collapse of the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP), the Partnership has survived, has slowly moved forward on many fronts and seems to be gathering pace on the economic side. This working paper aims at presenting the new contours of the Partnership, as well as evaluating its scope of action, logic of intervention, organisational setting and policy output from 1995-2003. A brief mid-term outlook is offered by way of conclusion.
Topic:
International Trade and Finance and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe and Middle East

369. Road Maps and Final Destinations for Israel and Palestine

Author:
Michael Emerson and Nathalie Tocci
Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
The Quartet was born at a meeting of foreign ministers in Madrid in April 2002, in response to Israeli army incursions into the Palestinian territories and in an attempt to give a fresh impetus to Western efforts to revive the lapsed Middle East peace process. The Quartet consists of the EU, Russia, the US and the United Nations. Given the relative passivity of the Russian and UN participants, the Quartet is effectively being driven by the US and the EU. While not yet successful in re-activating the peace process, it confirms in principle for the EU for the first time since the end of the Clinton period that the peace process is no longer the exclusive domain of the US, and that the US appears to welcome a more active European role as a political player, rather than just a payer of aid.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Arabia, and United Nations

370. Public Opinion and Enlargement: A Gravity Approach

Author:
Erik Jones and Niels van der Bijl
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Policy Studies
Abstract:
Popular support for enlargement of the European Union is a function of how close or how far removed the member states are from the candidate countries. In the absence of country fixed effects or special bilateral relationships (e.g. adjacency, historic rivalry, religious conformity), we can explain approximately 14% of the variation in attitudes across member states and with regard to specific candidate countries using factors related to trade, distance, and relative economic size and structure. Taking special bilateral relations into account we can explain approximately 30%. Once country fixed effects are incorporated, the level of explanation increases to 80%.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Europe