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.

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.

After twenty years of EU membership, the Swedish attitudes towards the EU has grown more positive and more stable in all social groups. Today, every second Swede is in favour of the Swedish EU membership.

The rules that govern the EU’s annual budget procedure changed with the Lisbon Treaty. In this European Policy Analysis, the author, Giacomo Benedetto, argues that the Council thereby gained more power than did the European Parliament.

Due to the financial crises in several EU member states, the EU has constructed a scoreboard of economic indicators to be used as an early warning system; future financial crises must be revealed at an earlier stage. The new scoreboard follows a ‘one size fits all’ approach, but research shows that country specifics makes early warning systems more accurate if they allow for different thresholds.

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.

Differences between capital exporting and capital importing countries are decreasing, which may facilitate an agreement on international investment rules. This has been an aim of EU policy for some time.

There have been several attempts to assess the economic impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, both at the EU-wide level and for some of the EU countries. However, these studies do not pay any attention to the potential impact of the TTIP on the EU regions.

The prospect of inclusion of the investment-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), gave rise to heated debate and strong criticism in many EU countries. The initially much polarised either-or discussion has recently gained a more nuanced tone with Trade Commissioner’s Cecilia Malmström’s opening up for a reform of ISDS.

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.