In the discussion about EU’s future, a euro area reform is one of the main priorities. Regarding the scope of the reforms, the position defended by Germany will be crucial, but the EMU members’ differing views of the Economic and Monetary Union also need to be considered. This anthology collects perspectives from Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands. (2018:1op)

The global financial crisis has led to a substantial rise in youth unemployment in Europe. Furthermore, young people are today increasingly excluded not only from the labour market, but the education system as well.

The economic crisis has revealed a number of weaknesses in the structures of the EU and the EMU. The measures taken in the EU in order to thwart the crisis have been introduced at a pace that has sometimes made it difficult to keep up with developments.

The economic and financial crisis was one of the most important issues handled during the Swedish EU presidency. The outcome, preceded by at times difficult negotiations, was a political decision concerning a new framework for supervision of the financial market in the EU.

The European Commission recently launched a discussion on the architecture of direct payments, with a view to rethinking the philosophy of agricultural regulation within the EU. The debate has been pursued under the Swedish EU Presidency.

In December 2006 the Institute for World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (IWE) was commissioned by SIEPS to map the interests of the EU Member States and their positions with regard to the EU budget, in order to analyse both the prospects for reform, as well as the possible content of such a reform, during the budget review 2008/2009. The study employs a twin-track approach.

SIEPS’ annual conference 2007 was held on the theme The Purse of the European Union: Setting Priorities for the Future. The conference was arranged in the light of the EU budget review process that was launched in September 2007 and which is expected to be concluded in 2008-2009.

The countries in "the class of 2004" are now full-fledged members of the European Union, with equal rights to participate in the policy process shaping its future. This implies a quality leap in their political status.