Expanding international exchange generates new collective needs that the nation states cannot satisfy, but also new sources of revenue from the digital economy and from the struggle against fiscal evasion. In this analysis, the author argues that to fund the provision of European collective goods, the EU must identify and pursue mobile tax bases that are not within the reach of the individual member states.
There has been a fall in investments in several EU member states and the need to revive economic growth is often highlighted. Therefore, the European Commission has presented a plan for 315 billion euro of new investment.
The big regional trade agreements such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, could significantly affect the world trading system. How and to what extent will these agreements generate gains from trade and reduce transatlantic trade costs? And what will they mean for third parties? This policy brief reviews some of the recent analyses and discusses how the TTIP could usefully draw on the experience in the World Trade Organization, WTO, to enhance transparency, and the scope for third parties to raise issues related to regulatory barriers to trade.
The Lisbon Treaty clearly expresses that the EU should accede to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). Nonetheless, the Court of Justice ruled, quite unexpectedly, in December 2014, that the draft agreement on the accession is not compatible with EU law.
The European Union has no direct competence in the field of housing policy, at least not as it is conventionally defined. Housing issues have however become increasingly important across the Union, especially since the global financial crisis.
On the path towards the UK’s upcoming in-out referendum, the UK faces three dilemmas: first, they seek shallower integration at a time when their peers want to deepen it; second, the antagonism to deepening may obstruct what is considered to be necessary changes for the EU and the Eurozone to function effectively; and third, the UK’s demands may spur similar initiatives from other member states who are discontent with aspects of their membership. The author of this European Policy Analysis warns that too far-reaching demands may cause other members to conclude they are better off without the UK.
Liberal political theory, with its roots in the European enlightenment, has had profound impact on the classic-liberal criminal law movement all over Europe. The basic idea is that criminal law should be used to a minimum extent.
Falling world prices of food and energy are the main explanatory factor behind disinflation in EU countries outside the euro zone, including Sweden. Disinflationary spillovers from the euro area is an important factor as well.
What distinguishes the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) from EU’s previous free trade agreements is that its focus is not so much on elimination of tariffs, but rather on reduction of regulatory barriers to trade. The system of regulatory cooperation, which the TTIP entails, is meant to achieve and sustain regulatory convergence between the parties, creating a “living agreement”, flexible to expand to new areas and adjustable to future regulatory developments.
During the last decade there has been a considerable increase in European intelligence cooperation within the realm of foreign and security policy. This publication analyses the organisation and process of European intelligence cooperation and the effect that this cooperation is having on European foreign policy.