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The EU needs a methodology for including reform impacts in fiscal trajectories
Such a methodology, and a governance mechanism for managing associated risks, must be in place before the new fiscal framework kickstarts in September
Why should the European Union reboot the debate on financing the EU budget?
A Connected Europe in the Digital World
The EU's digital policy will serve the bloc better if it stays open and consciously linked to the rest of the world.
The European Central Bank, inflation tolerance and the last mile
European capital markets union: make it or break it
Capital markets union has not delivered, but it should be given a last chance, with a focus on supervisory integration
Commentary items
Republishing and referencing policy
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Opinion piece
25 May 2016
Lessons for the euro from early US monetary and financial history
In this essay, Jeffry Frieden looks at the process of creating a monetary union in the United States and draws lessons for the EU.
Jeffry Frieden
Opinion piece
11 May 2016
European financing for the European refugee crisis
Protecting the EU's external borders is a shared task, which can be most effectively carried out if paid for with common funding. A tax on carbon co
Guntram B. Wolff
Opinion piece
04 May 2016
EU must step up energy cooperation with southern Mediterranean countries
Furthering energy cooperation between the EU and countries in the Southern Mediterranean is a challenge, but also a great opportunity. Supporting su
Simone Tagliapietra
Opinion piece
27 April 2016
Debt, not reserves, to constrain China’s cross-border buying spree
Despite an $800 billion drain on China’s foreign reserves over the last 20 months, Chinese firms have been on a buying spree that has only accelerated
Alicia García-Herrero
Opinion piece
19 April 2016
Chinese banks: the way forward
Despite the economic downturn the Chinese banking system continues its expansion. Concerns are rising about the institutions' strenght, as bad loans c
Alicia García-Herrero
Opinion piece
12 April 2016
How to reform EU fiscal rules
The current inefficient European fiscal framework should be replaced with a system based on rules that are more conducive to the two objectives of pu
Zsolt Darvas and Grégory Claeys
Opinion piece
11 April 2016
Making the EU-Turkey refugee deal work
The EU deal with Turkey reached on 18 March is problematic, but without a deal the EU’s external borders would have collapsed completely. Now the EU
Guntram B. Wolff
Opinion piece
10 April 2016
Mere criticism of the ECB is no solution
What would happen if the ECB failed to respond to the excessively low inflation and the weak economy? And what economic policy would be suitable under
Guntram B. Wolff, Marcel Fratzscher, Reint Gropp, Hans-Helmut Kotz, Jan Pieter Krahnen and Christian Odendahl
Opinion piece
30 March 2016
ECB decisions put lack of fiscal union in the spotlight
Fiscal policy in the euro area is hardly supporting the recovery and the ECB. The EU needs a a proper fiscal union in order to stabilise the economy
Agnès Bénassy-Quéré and Guntram B. Wolff
Opinion piece
18 March 2016
The refugee crisis: A European call for action
Open Letter by the conveners of the Vision Europe Summit regarding the refugee
crisis in Europe and the necessity to act now.
Guntram B. Wolff, Aart de Geus, Artur Santos Silva, Mikko Kosonen, Piero Gastaldo, Robin Niblett and Yves Bertoncini
Opinion piece
17 March 2016
The UK’s sovereignty myth
Those who argue that Brexit would let the UK “take back sovereignty” overlook the impact of trade on domestic law-making.
André Sapir and Guntram B. Wolff
Opinion piece
15 March 2016
The G20’s structural reform agenda should address income gap and financial system fragility
G20 leaders must address major issues like the distribution of income and the structure of our financial systems in order to combat the deeper underly
Guntram B. Wolff
Opinion piece
11 February 2016
Why euro-zone ‘outs’ should join banking union
Joining the banking union could provide a stable arrangement for managing financial stability for the UK and other non-Euro countries.
Pia Hüttl and Dirk Schoenmaker
Opinion piece
03 February 2016
A new way to approach Europe’s gas security, beyond the usual Russian obsession
Instead of doing everything to reduce gas supplies from key suppliers, gas supply security could more effectively be safeguarded by ensuring that unus
Simone Tagliapietra
Opinion piece
02 February 2016
The economic consequences of Schengen
The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, recently warned that “without Schengen and the free movement of workers, of citizens, t
Guntram B. Wolff
Opinion piece
30 January 2016
The market's troubling message
Amid one of the worst market routs on record, a chorus of reassuring economic commentators insists that global fundamentals are sound and investors ar
Ashoka Mody