EU Institutions & Policy-Making

In recent years, the EU has significantly shaped framework conditions in areas such as data protection, consumer health and safety, environmental protection, the supply chain, and antitrust law. However, the EU’s overregulation in some areas is seen not as beneficial, but as a detrimental factor limiting innovation, competition and growth. The EU now needs better, evidence-based regulation ensuring that its legislation is drafted in a transparent and inclusive manner and is as simple and targeted as possible to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy burdens and costs.

Low market integration is a key barrier to European competitiveness in the digital economy. International collaboration of knowledge workers could help realize market size advantage. European digital single market policymaking should address production-side barriers.

This Policy Report shows that reducing barriers and better harmonizing regulations within the EU would deepen the integration of the EU internal market for trade in services. This would lead to gains in value added across all sectors, strengthening Europe's economy and competitiveness and generating substantial welfare gains.

The banking turmoil of 2023 had only a limited impact on banks in the Eurozone and the EU. Nevertheless, important lessons can be learned from this crisis: effective regulation and supervision is a moving target that must adapt to changing circumstances and banks' business models.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised the question of whether the issue of external border security and defense needs to be more closely integrated within the European Union. Many proposals are under discussion aimed at assigning the EU with tasks that are currently performed at national level. 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. It entails additional costs and ‒ even more importantly ‒ the member states would have to give up some of their sovereignty. The project is linked to the plan to build a robust and efficient defense industry. This is because European arms production has so far suffered from national fragmentation and chronic underfunding.