News Archive

The debate over the next EU budget is already heating up. In early May the European Commission will publish its proposal for the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the years 2021-2027. Agricultural subsidies and regional transfers are likely to continue to swallow a large share of the EU budget. In view of the acute legitimacy crisis facing the EU, this spending structure calls for reform. The Commission has recommended using “European added value” (EAV) as a reform criterion. This policy brief considers whether allocating competences more effectively between the EU and its member states could boost the EU’s performance.

Dynamic scoring, or the evaluation of tax reform effects, is common practice in the US, but has never been applied to the EU’s fiscal governance framework. Adopting a novel approach, the authors analyse hypothetical reforms of the social insurance contributions system in Belgium. They find that the self-financing effect of a reduction in employers’ social insurance contributions is far greater than that of a comparable reduction in employees’ social insurance contributions.

How can the euro area tackle its perennial problems of core/periphery imbalances and anaemic long-term growth? According to network members Luigi Bonatti and Andrea Fracasso, Università di Trento, there is no quick-fix solution. Temporary fiscal stimulus does not produce permanent improvements, while the upfront costs and short-term negative impact of structural reforms can feed distributional conflicts. Permanent cross-national transfers provide local relief, but also exacerbate tensions among member states.

On December 5, 2017, the European institutions - Commission, Council, and Parliament - reached political agreement on reforming the EU’s trade defense instruments. This “modernization” of anti-dumping legislation is, in fact, an attempt to provide the EU with stronger tools to tackle the allegedly “unfair” practices of its trade partners. On its website, the Commission advertises that the deal will enable the EU to impose higher duties on dumped products. Does Germany’s position signal a new and worrying stance toward free trade?

In view of loud complaints over alleged austerity policy in Europe, the call for tougher debt ceilings seems untimely. It is claimed that the current rules are too restrictive and will hamper public investment. The next German federal government's position on reforming European Monetary Union is one of the main issues on the table in the coalition negotiations and it is highly controversial. ifo President Clemens Fuest is convinced that a serious application of the existing concepts for ensuring sustainable fiscal policy would call for stricter, not softer debt rules. This Opinion explains why Europe needs stricter debt rules and should not follow in Japan’s footsteps.