As an alternative to measuring the extent of market integration, ‘home - bias' indicates the degree to which economic agents ‘over - prefer' to transact with domestic agents rather than agents from other EU countries. Such an exclusive preference is measured against a benchmark of (ideal)...

On 1 January 2023, Croatia became the newest member of the Schengen Agreement of the European Union (EU) and also joined the Eurozone. This will not only mean a new currency and the elimination of border controls - allowing thus free movement within the Schengen area. It will also mean...

When entering a monetary union, member countries change the nature of their sovereign debt in a fundamental way, i.e. they cease to have control over the currency in which their debt is issued. As a result, financial markets can force these countries' sovereigns into default. In this sense, the...

This paper describes four key drivers behind the adjustment difficulties in the periphery of the eurozone: • The adjustment will be particularly difficult for Greece and Portugal, as two relatively closed economies with low savings rates. Both of these countries combine high external debt...

The first 16 months of the EU's common commercial policy (CCP) in the post - Lisbon period provide indicative insights into how the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers interpret their respective roles under the new legal framework introduced by the Lisbon...

While energy security has gradually been incorporated into the EU's foreign policy calculus, the declared approach of extending a nexus of 'market-governance' energy norms has been realized only to a limited extent. The EU has eschewed a comprehensively political approach to energy security,...