In this paper we propose a reform of the EU financing system. The two most important elements of our proposal are i) to make the contribution of taxpayers to the EU budget more visible by showing an EU VAT share on receipts and ii) to increase the power of the European Parliament in the...

The aggravating turbulences in the market for euro government bonds have so far precluded any recovery from the debt crisis. The key problem is that structural reforms and consolidation measures have long impact lags and are not able to stop an acute self-fulfilling crisis of confidence. In the...

The experiences of the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe highlight the failures of the current model of having the EU and its members states share responsibility for asylum policies. Based on standard criteria of fiscal federalism, this paper analyses the shortcomings of the status quo. We show...

Following numerous reforms of fiscal governance in the eurozone since 2011, the year 2016 saw another important innovation: the founding of the European Fiscal Board (EFB) with the selection and appointment of its five members. The EFB was one of the elements envisaged by the Five Presidents'...

The purported advantages of corona bonds over the ESM are meagre to non-existent, says Friedrich Heinemann (EconPol Europe, ZEW). The challenge we face is to contain the spread of COVID-19 while stabilising the economy and ensuring eurozone states have sufficient liquidity and the ESM is a...

Die Zahlen zur deutschen Staatsverschuldung sind zunehmend unvollständig, weil sie die auf Deutsch- land entfallenden Verpflichtungen für wachsende EU-Schulden ausblenden. Nach Auszahlung aller Mittel aus dem Corona-Wiederaufbauplan Next Generation EU (NGEU) beläuft sich der deutsche...

Cohesion Policy (CP) has been a central economic policy tool of the EU for several decades. In the current context of fundamental challenges facing the EU, and ahead of the next seven-year budgetary cycle, Europe has the opportunity to rethink and reform the EU budget and CP in particular. This...

The EU's Cohesion Policy (CP) intends to promote European economic, social, and territorial cohesion. The policy occupies about a third of the EU budget and it is the most evaluated of all EU policies. With the support of the German Ministry of Finance, two in-depth ZEW research papers by...

Die Zahlen zur deutschen Staatsverschuldung sind zunehmend unvollständig, weil sie die auf Deutsch- land entfallenden Verpflichtungen für wachsende EU-Schulden ausblenden. Nach Auszahlung aller Mittel aus dem Corona-Wiederaufbauplan Next Generation EU (NGEU) beläuft sich der deutsche...