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...

A crucial part of the recently adopted "Fit for 55" package of the European Commission is devoted to the transition to a greener energy system. More specifically, the amendment to the Renewable Energy Directive sets up an increased target to produce 40% of energy from renewable sources by 2030....

The current COVID-19 crisis has shown the importance of supply chain diversification to mitigate the negative effect of unexpected supply shocks. The decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union poses additional challenges to foreign trade: Irrespective of the outcome of the Brexit...

We derive an analytic expression describing how health costs and death counts of the Covid-19 pandemic change over time as vaccination proceeds. Meanwhile, the disease may continue to spread exponentially unless checked by Non Pharmacological Interventions (NPI). The key factors are that the...

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...

European banks are stronger today than they were on the eve of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, thanks to the reforms that have taken place since then. But will they be strong enough in the face of a health crisis closer to the Great Depression of the 1930s than the stress-test scenarios...

The European Emissions Trading System is a cornerstone of the EU climate policy and its development is set until 2030. However, it is unclear what will happen afterwards. This policy brief compares three different scenarios: Rapid Decarbonization, 2050 Climate Neutral and a Break scenario. The...

Key messages: The Policy Brief analyzes to what extent the funds provided by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) are used by member states to finance new projects (additionality of public investments). The analysis shows that in the EU-27 there is no significant relationship between the...

The Samoa Agreement in November 2023 marks an expansion of the EU's core areas of development cooperation. This article shows how climate change affects other priority areas of economic, political and social development. Two adaptation measures deserve more attention: The EU development policy...

The weaknesses of the Common European Asylum System have led to conflicts of interest between the EU's external border states and the main destination countries, such as Germany. After years of negotiations, the reform of the European asylum policy was formally adopted by the European Parliament...