News Archive

Most EU members have increased their defense spending in the past year or plan to do so soon. However, whether an EU defense union is politically achievable remains controversial. In the new issue of EconPol Forum, our authors take a critical look at the needs of the common EU defense policy. They examine how it should be efficiently financed and coordinated at EU and national level.

In the new legislative period, the EU Commission will need a well-thought-out economic policy agenda to respond to the changed geopolitical challenges and to strengthen its competitiveness. This policy brief analyzes the main economic challenges ahead.

Climate change has an effect on all areas of development in poor countries due to its impact on the agricultural sector. EU development policy should support innovative financial mechanisms for family farms. Another goal should be the opening of product markets and the free movement of people.

What economic policy challenges will the Eu need to face in the next political cycle? What policies should be implemented to overcome them? In our latest newsletter you will find three new Policy Briefs on EU energy and climate policy, EU asylum policy and citizens' trust in EU institutions, as well as a brand new Policy Report on EU Cohesion Policy. You will also find the new EconPol Forum, in which our authors discuss how Europe can secure its competitiveness and future prosperity.

The EU cohesion policy lacks clearly defined objectives and uniform standards for the evaluation of programs. This is because the evaluations are commissioned by national or regional administrative authorities, which have an interest in proving the success of their programs. This reduces the credibility of the performance reviews. These are the findings of a team of researchers from the ifo Institute and ZEW Mannheim based on data from the Cohesion Open Data Platform. It contains more than 2,500 evaluations of the member states.