This paper reviews the economic, monetary and financial relations between the EU and the euro area and a set of countries in a broad set of neighbouring regions. The 80 or so countries are mostly classified as transition, emerging or developing economies and belong to four main regions: the...

Overall, the paper underlines the difficulties in spelling out the transmission and the final effects of external shocks on the euro area, and highlights the complexity of the various direct and indirect mechanisms. We describe the main channels by which potential spillovers from external...

This paper reviews selected aspects of economic relations between the EU and Russia, focusing on the impact that the last two waves of EU enlargement have had on Russia, as well as the role of the euro in Russia. The analysis suggests that if EU enlargement has had any diversion effects on trade...

World trade contracted sharply in late 2008 and early 2009 following the deepening of the financial crisis in September 2008. This paper discusses the main mechanisms behind the global downturn in trade and its impact on euro area exports and competitiveness. It finds that the euro area was hit...

This paper analyses the integration of China and India into the global economy. To this end, it presents estimates from a gravity model to gauge the overall degree of their trade intensity and the depth of their bilateral trade linkages, as well as selected measures of revealed comparative...

The paper provides an analysis of the euro area money and bond markets and their infrastructure since the introduction of the euro. Significant development in terms of integration took place in both markets in general to a various degree for the different segments. However, there remain room for...

This paper details the methodological framework underlying the construction of the effective exchange rate (EER) indicators of the euro. This framework yields two sets of indicators - (i) one nominal and several real EER indices against a narrow reference group of euro area trading partners...

This paper documents the analytical work that was carried out for the 2001 review of the assumption for the trend in M3 income velocity used to calculate the reference value for M3 growth. We analyse the medium-term trend in velocity using univariate time series tools and different money demand...

This paper aims, first, at assessing the relative importance of working age population and participation rates to explain labour force developments in the euro area between 1983 and 2000. It also compares participation rates in the euro area vis-à-vis the US, considering age and gender groups....

This paper is organised as follows. Section 1 explains why issues concerning central counterparty clearing houses are of direct concern to central banks and why a comparison of the European and the US situation is of interest. Section 2 provides a comparative overview of the organisation of...