This document was commissioned by the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON). It is a quick critique, conducted over a four week period, of those sections of the European Commission’s Impact Assessment (hereafter “the IA”) on the revisions to the Capital...

The financial crisis that began in 2007 as a liquidity crisis for banks has transformed itself into a sovereign debt crisis that threatens the viability of the eurozone and the foundations of the European Union. In this study, we analyse some of the recent regulatory initiatives in response to...

This case study focuses on the measures used by ArcelorMittal to cut costs and avoid involuntary redundancies during the crisis in its largest Romanian subsidiary. The study aims to assess the effectiveness of the various measures applied to keep staff in employment and to ensure the company’s...

This case study demonstrates how Danske Bank, one of the largest banks in northern Europe, has dealt with the impact of the financial crisis. It also shows how it has coped with longer term restructuring requirements arising from rapid expansion and internationalisation of the bank, the...

With very low unemployment, a large and stable current account surplus, low government debt and a budget in surplus, the Dutch economy was assessed initially to be relatively well prepared to weather the financial and economic crisis. In 2008, however, the negative effects of the financial...

The financial crisis may pose a risk as well as offer an opportunity for the European defence sector: on the one hand, it sounds plausible that shrinking budgets increase the pressure on member states to cooperate and thus overcome the EU’s problems related to capability development and...

Overall, household debt levels have risen sharply over the past decades in EU Member States. While certain levels of household debts can be beneficial, they can become problematic especially with a sudden, unexpected decrease of incomes or increase of expenditures. The current financial crisis...

Household over-indebtedness is among the causes of the current financial crisis. In turn, the crisis exacerbated both public and private debt problems. In this paper, household over-indebtedness is broadly defined as the situation where a household cannot comply with payment requirements –...

This report focuses on how Dexia Bank Belgium has responded to the considerable challenges resulting from the financial and economic crisis, and how the transformation of its workforce has been managed under these circumstances. It specifically emphasises the role of the social partner...