Four years after the start of the Arab Spring uprisings, the macroeconomic situation in the EU’s Southern Neighbourhood remains weak and vulnerable and the recent intensification of civil strife and military conflicts is exacerbating this economic malaise. Macroeconomic performance may not...

The global crisis has taken its toll on the EU’s prime position in international trade. While the EU still has the largest relative market shares, its position has deteriorated since the crisis, much more so than the US, and its comparative advantage in knowledge-intensive goods has been...

This note provides a brief overview of the work carried out under the auspices of DG ECFIN's fellowship initiative. While the economic policy agenda in Europe is currently dominated by lagging activity reflecting public and private balance-sheet problems and still impaired transmission of...

Summarising the findings of DG ECFIN's fellowship programme on the future of EMUDG ECFIN has now published a series of Economic Papers written by distinguished scholars in the context of its Fellowship Initiative on "The future of EMU & Economic growth perspectives for Europe". This policy brief...

Large and differentiated fiscal adjustments underway in EU countries require credible strategies, including a growth-friendly approach to consolidation design. This brief captures in a summary fashion the main underlying principles for fiscal adjustments of high quality. While setting some...

This brief discusses trends , drivers and policies related to European competitiveness in a global perspective. Over the past two decades, European industry was holding its own against both the old world competition from the US and Japan and newer rivals from China or India. But already before...

This Economic Brief recapitulates some main insights on the role of structural reform for adjustment and growth in the EU. Its aim is threefold. First, the Brief discusses recent reform efforts in EU countries. Second, it discusses possible effects from reforms in labour and product markets by...

Leading indicators point towards an economic recovery in the EU, encompassing also the vulnerable euro area Member States. In view of the legacy of the crisis, growth is still set to remain moderate, but a gradual easing of the drag related to deleveraging, financial fragmentation, adjustment of...

The US, Japan and China appear to be heading towards a "new normal". However, the 2014-16 period will be critical to ensure that global growth is put on a sustainable path as ample challenges persist. The brief will first discuss what the new manual would look like in the US, Japan and China. It...

The Brief investigates the role of policy uncertainty in explaining the persistently high unemployment rate in the euro area after the Great Recession and the different impact of uncertainty on flows into and out of unemployment.