US poverty is much higher than poverty in Europe when a relative poverty measure is used. Using an absolute poverty measurement method, the picture looks different: poverty in some European countries is higher. This paper estimates poverty rates for all the countries of the (old) EU and the USA...

Official poverty methodologies differ from other poverty measurement methods in the sense that the official ones are more often used as a benchmark to develop new policies as well as to evaluate the performance of existing programs. Europe has the tradition and the practice to use relative...

In 2004, Frits Bolkenstein, former European Commissioner for the Internal Market, brought in the attention of the European Commission “The Services Directive in the Internal Market”. The purpose of this directive was to liberalize the services’ market in the EU, a major regulated field,...

The energy security is a growing concern both of the EU governments, and of Brussels. The European officials have been working on a strategy that should ensure the energy security of the Union. Some of the main courses of action are as follows: increasing the energy output from regenerative...

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact on the banking system from the accession of Macedonia in the EU. EU enlargement is a complex process with enormous impact on the economy of the new member countries. The financial system of the new member country, and the banking system as a part of...

Together with the IMF and the World Bank, the EMU is the biggest monetary project in the history of mankind. Its goals are reduction of trade costs between its member-states, increase in the convergence in their relations and their economic growth. The main pillars of the monetary institutions...