Yes, it’s the report season again! No, I don’t mean the season of full-year or Q1 reports from Corporate-land but that we have a few months ahead of us with new reports about the EU’s economic future (there’s a link between the two that I’ll come to). First out is Enrico Letta, who was tasked by a few EU countries to come up with a review of the single market, and he is releasing his paper today (April 17). Thanks to some advanced leaks of the report, we already have a fuller idea of what the former Italian premier has in mind for economic reforms. It has been billed as a bold plan for revivin ..read more

Within a matter of months, the UK will almost certainly have a new government. As much as a change of direction will be a new energy as seen in 1997 and 2010, the last times this happened. A welcome new sense of possibility after time in office wore down the previous administration. Though customary to talk of a first 100 days, trade policy does not usually lend itself to dramatic changes. Indeed, usually the opposite, as countries seek consistent positions given negotiations continue across changes of government. A UK context of widely perceived trade policy failures in particular the ‘Global ..read more

This piece is co-authored by Hanna Adam (University of Bayreuth), Mario Larch (University of Bayreuth), and Jordi Paniagua (University of Valencia and University of Notre Dame). In December 2019, during one of the most followed sporting events (the classic football match “El Clásico” between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid), a huge banner was unfurled at Camp Nou with a strong message: #SpainSitAndTalk. This message urged the Spanish government to sit around the negotiating table and talk about the possible secession of Catalonia from Spain, demonstrating the political stalemate since the 2017 re ..read more

The webinar “What now for the WTO after MC13”, hosted by ECIPE’s Director Matthias Bauer on March 12th, 2024, featured a wide and deep discussion on the post-MC13 landscape for the World Trade Organization (WTO) with insights from Dr Deborah Elms (Head of Trade Policy of the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore), Ignacio García Bercero (Director at the Directorate-General for Trade of the European Commission), and Alan Wm. Wolff (Distinguished visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former deputy director-general of the WTO). The speakers provided a multifaceted an ..read more

*Disclaimer: the views expressed herein are those of the author and do not represent an official position by the European Commission. Competitiveness concerns are back to the fore. The FT has recently warned that Europe faces a “competitiveness crisis“, especially when compared to the United States, where productivity growth is projected to remain higher than in Europe for years to come. The alarm bells concerning EU’s economic underperformance have been sounding for a while now. Germany, the main economic engine for the European Union is slowing down and is faced with multiple challenges ..read more

*The views expressed herein are individual to the author and do not represent any official position European farmers have taken their tractors to the streets. Their list of complaints can be summarised in three points: tight margins; increasing environmental regulations; and competition from international markets. In relation to the last complaint, European farmers claim that they face unfair import competition. They argue that European rules that regulate the production of food are stricter than international practices, putting them in disadvantage. Worried about international competition and ..read more

On Thursday, 7 March 2024, at the ECIPE office in Brussels, we organised the event titled ” Liberalism versus Populism – How can Liberalism Fight Back?” where we examined the rise of populism in contrast to classical liberalism. Hosted by ECIPE director and founder Fredrik Erixon and featuring former political science professor and founder of the Ratio Institute Nils Karlson, the discussion delved into the complexities of populism, its impact on society, and the strategies to combat the populist wave by using the principles of classical liberalism. Nils Karlson initiated the conversation by di ..read more

* Avertissement : les opinions exprimées ici sont celles de l’auteur et ne représentent pas une position officielle de la Commission européenne. CETA : des attentes à la réalité L’ALE UE-Canada (CETA) est un accord commercial très médiatique et vivement débattu en Europe. Lors des débats durant les négociations, les perspectives et l’impact  de l’accord CETA ont fait l’objet à la fois d’espoirs ( Kirkpatrick et al., 2011 ) et de critiques, y compris son potentiel impact négatif  sur les petites entreprises européennes ( Corporate Europe, 2016 ). Beaucoup ..read more

This blog post is based on an article published in El País on the 10th of March 2024 with Isabel Pérez del Puerto. The original article can be found here. The blog also draws from Nils Karlson latest book Reviving Classical Liberalism Against Populism, which can be accessed here. Contributing to peace, security and sustainable development; contributing to solidarity and mutual respect between peoples, free and fair trade, the eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights; the strict respect for international law. These are not just aspirational concepts, but constitute the objectiv ..read more

In the Greek Mythology, a Sisyphean task refers to a seemingly endless and futile endeavour, almost impossible to complete. The inception of the India-Middle-East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) reminds me of a Sisyphean task. IMEC, with regards to foreign affairs and diplomacy, is viewed in a high manner, however, it is riddled with obstacles when viewed from the lens of economics and trade. In September 2023, the European Commission as well as the Governments of Saudi Arabia, India, United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, Germany, Italy and the United States of America announced their plans to c ..read more