After the removal of intra-Community borders, the traditional VAT system of the EC which was based on the Destination principle and fiscal border controls had to be reformed. The ECOFIN-Council decided to preserve the Destination principle for a transition period from January 1, 1993 to December...

From a pure welfare economic viewpoint, there is no contradiction between a deepening and a widening of the EU. However, the analysis in this paper shows that the factual degree of deepening efforts within the EU by far exceeds the economically optimal one. Above all, the tendency of the...

The paper presents labor productivities in the member countries of Euroland. The result is that there is quite a divergence in labor productivities (per head) in the European Monetary Union. The Netherlands and Italy reach 85 percent of the West German level, Spain 62 and Portugal 35. This...

Die Schaffung eines einheitlichen Geldes in Europa und die Vergemeinschaftung der Geldpolitik bedeuten eine einschneidende institutionelle Änderung. In diesem Beitrag wird analysiert, was zu tun und was zu lassen ist, damit das historisch bedeutsame Vorhaben ein Erfolg wird. Zwölf...

The member states of the European Union have given up sovereignty in quite a number of policy areas and subjected themselves to joint decisionmaking at the European level. Policy instruments are no longer available nationally in many policy areas, including monetary policy, trade policy, the...

With twelve new members the decision making in the European Union via intergovernmental cooperation will become ineffective. In order to avoid a Stagno-Europe the EU has a choice: Either it looks for the very essentials in the common institutional frame or the member states agree in ceding...

The paper analyzes one important aspect of the constitutional debate: the allocation of econornie competences between the EU and the mernber states. It takes the theory of fiscal federalism as a starting point for an optimal allocation of economic competences. The main message of the theory is...