In March, 2007, the Treaty of Rome celebrates its 50th anniversary. The chief lesson from this remarkable period of European cooperation is the contribution to growth and prosperity from economic integration. The common commercial policy that emerged from this treaty has had a significant impact...

Few policy issues in Brussels and Washington DC are met with such a compact unity across political boundaries as the idea of deepened transatlantic economic integration. Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the support for transatlantic economic co-operation remains strong. The...

What if the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is not a doomed initiative - and what if it will actually make inroads into modern trade problems? The Asia-Pacific region is now the world's centre of economic gravity holding an increasing share of world production and promising a rapid turn into the...

The forces of the Wealth of nations are not at work for the Health of nations. Economic and trade integration have progressed over the last fifty years and yet one sector remains conspicuously un-globalized: health care. Interest groups and international organizations, like the World Health...

The European Union has set out a new strategy for growth and competitiveness. A successor to the Lisbon agenda, the 2020 strategy aims to usher Europe into an era of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It is of tremendous importance that Europe speeds up growth. Fiscal stabilization can...

Sino‐European trade relations have been controversially discussed mainly, if not only, because of the increasing European Union’s bilateral trade deficit with China. As from the European perspective trade with China becomes more important, the structural adjustment process of the Chinese...

This paper examines the role of policy for creating an attractive atmosphere for venture capital investments in online start-ups and entrepreneurship. It is based on in-depth interviews with venture capitalists in the United States.The main takeaway points are: The policy atmosphere is important...

Obesity rates in Europe have been growing at an accelerated speed in the past two decades. In the European Union, between 36.9% and 56.7% of all women - and between 51% and 69.3% of all men - are overweight or obese, according to data from 2008-09. Estimates on the growth of obesity suggest that...

This paper takes stock of the proposals by the European Commission and members of the European Parliament to amend the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and how the proposed revisions integrate with the obligations of the European Union in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The European...

International trade is a powerful force of societal transformation. Trade agreements not only stimulated trade; they have improved the quality and integrity of domestic economic and political institutions. This view on trade as a force of institutional development and societal transformation has...