Veugelers, R. (2014) “Is Europe saving away its future? European public funding for research in the era of fiscal consolidation“, VoxEU Organisation, 28 August.   The Crisis affected public spending. Research and innovation is one area often highlighted as needing protection. This column does not find strong evidence that European countries sacrificed research and innovation more than other government expenditure. However, there is strong heterogeneity across countries. Innovation lagging and …Read More

Mushaben, J. M. & Abels, G. (2014) “The lack of gender equality in EU decision-making means EU citizens are still suffering from a ‘double democratic deficit’“, LSE EUROPP Blog, 28 August.   The EU has often been accused of having a democratic deficit with respect to deficiencies in the representation of citizens in EU decision-making. Joyce Marie Mushaben and Gabriele Abels discuss the role of gender equality in assessments of …Read More

McCormick, J. (2014) “The Meaning of a British Exit from the European Union“, LSE EUROPP, 29 Ιουλίου.   Since January 2013, and the announcement by British Prime Minister David Cameron of his plan to hold a referendum on continued UK membership of the European Union, there has been much speculation about the possible effects of a so-called ‘Brexit’. However, it can be no more than speculation, because no member state …Read More

Thillaye, R., Kouba, L. & Sachs, A. (2014) “Why Institutions Matter in the Eurozone“, Policy Network Publications, 17 July.   Reforming EU Economic Governance The debate about the Eurozone’s future usually centres on a clash between economics and politics. Giving the EU greater oversight powers and more spending capacity is said to be the only viable long run solution, but there is little popular appetite for this option. As a …Read More

Salamone, A. (2014) “What’s in a European Commission President?“, Britain’s Europe Blog, 25 Ιουλίου.   The next President of the European Commission faces a number of obstacles to a successful term of office. Political and institutional challenges, ranging from the power of the Council and the Parliament to the difficulty in building unity in the Commission, stand in the way of the President’s goals for the EU. In order to …Read More

Merler, S. (2014) “Lithuania changes the ECB’s voting system – membership threshold triggers change in the ECB’s Governing Council’s voting system, which starts rotating“, Bruegel Institute, 25 July.   Lithuania will become the 19th member of the Euro area on the 1st of January, following Wednesday’s Council endorsement. The most important part of the story – however – is not that someone is still brave enough to join the Euro …Read More

Dale, E. & Porcaro, G. (2014) “Juncker’s new start for Europe – a brief summary of past Bruegel research as it relates to Juncker’s new agenda for the European Commission“, Bruegel Institute, 23 July.   Last week, President Elect Jean-Claude Juncker published his agenda for Europe. To inform the policy debate, we would like to highlight and summarize some of the key research Bruegel scholars have done over the last …Read More

Laeven, L. & Ratnovski, L. (2014) “Corporate governance of banks and financial stability“, VoxEU Organisation, 21 July.   Bank distress during the recent crisis caused significant damage to the real economy. Appropriately, the policy response focused on stronger bank supervision and regulation. This column asks if there is a role for improvements in bank corporate governance. Based on the literature the authors suggest that better risk management, regulation of pay, …Read More