The European Commission has proposed to inaugurate a European Minister of Economy and Finance with the broad purpose of streamlining the complex and fragmented decision-making processes within the European Monetary Union. The Minister would jointly serve as Vice-President of the Commission and...

The Eurosystem has become one of the crucial players in the market for euro area government bonds. After first substantive purchases through the Securities Market Programme (SMP) in 2010, the Eurosystem's involvement has reached a new breadth and magnitude with the establishment of the Public...

This paper discusses various options for reforming fiscal governance in the Eurozone. We focus on two possible reform approaches referred to as the ‘Maastricht model' and the ‘US model'. The Maastricht model implies that ultimate responsibility for economic and fiscal policy remains at the...

Despite the great achievements for peace and economic prosperity, the European project has recently been challenged with public support being on decline in many member states, culminating in the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the EU. Against this background, this study looks into...

This paper critically assesses several dimensions of a sovereign debt restructuring mechanism (SDRM) for the euro area. The novelty of our analysis is that we abstain from recommending one ideal model for a restructuring mechanism. Instead, we apply a menu-type approach. For five key...

Over the last year, exchanges that were initiated by the ZEW's SEEK-conference on ‘regulating sovereign debt restructuring in the eurozone' resulted in vivid discussions on more feasible sovereign debt restructurings in the euro area. This policy report, edited by Frederik Eidam and Friedrich...

Angesichts vielfältiger Krisenerscheinungen des europäischen Integrationsprozesses befasst sich dieser Beitrag mit den Bestimmungsgründen von "europäischer Identität". Ausmaß und Trends in der Identifikation der Menschen mit Europa sind von erheblicher Bedeutung für den Fortgang des...

This paper conceptualizes an appropriate path for fiscal policy starting from the early phase of the pandemic up to the final transition to a post-pandemic new normal. Using this yardstick, it assesses the initial fiscal response of Member States. It exploits fiscal projections and program data...