'Europe' is becoming more relevant than in the past. In the last twenty to thirty years, the European Union has moved towards policy domains which have been exclusively the competence of individual Member States.
Some examples are monetary and budgetary policies (Stability and Growth pact), environment, innovation, immigration and foreign policy. This raises the question to which extent European cooperation is desirable from an economic point of view.
Economic researchers see a role for the EU in the areas higher education, innovation, internal market, corporate taxation, and regional policy towards poorer Member States, but the importance of Europe may differ per policy area.
These are the most important conclusions from the book Subsidiarity and Economic Reform in Europe, edited by George Gelauff and Arjan Lejour (CPB) and Isabel Grilo (European Commission).
