Alle drei großen Ratingagenturen Standard & Poor's, Moody's und Fitch haben Griechenland, Irland, Portugal und Spanien während der europäischen Finanzmarkt- und Staatsschuldenkrise signifikant benachteiligt. Dies lässt sich nur zu einem geringen Teil auf objektive Fundamentaldaten...

This article critically discusses the potential of the new behavioural turn in consumer policy. It focuses on methodological and normative aspects, which are not suffi ciently discussed in the policy domain, in particular on the lessons that can be learned from randomised control trials and the...

Recent price developments in the euro area demonstrate that deflation is a serious issue of concern. Some euro area countries are already facing a deflation in the usual macroeconomic sense of a 'general price decline'. This article discusses the economic consequences of deflation and suggests...

Productivity-enhancing structural reforms are crucial to the economic prospects of the EU. Indeed, such reforms are even more urgent in the current environment in which many economies are reaching the limits of the policy support they can provide to shore up demand. Moreover, even as some of the...

The current system for the financing of the EU needs to be reformed. This paper puts forth a reform proposal with two important elements: first, the addition of an EU VAT share on receipts; and second, a shift in power from the European Council to the European Parliament with regard to the...

This working paper reviews the evidence on the impact of public R&D spending. The authors first look at the evidence from micro-analysis of the impact of public intervention on private R&D and innovation, with a focus on the latest results from crosscountry micro-research performed within...

On 25 November 2015, the European Union enacted new rules for international mobile roaming (IMR) under Regulation 2015/2120, which seeks to implement a Roam Like at Home (RLAH) regime among the member states of the European Union. Questions remain, however, as to whether it is possible to...

Dank der guten konjunkturellen Lage und der Niedrigzinspolitik der Europäischen Zentralbank hat sich der in den vergangenen Jahren erkennbare Trend hin zu mehr Haushaltskonsolidierung 2017 fortgesetzt. Das spiegelt sich auch im Update 2017 des EU-Nachhaltigkeitsrankings der Stiftung...

On-track competition in passenger services has traditionally been limited in European railways, with private operators offering marginal services in selected corridors in the UK, Sweden and Germany only. In recent years, a larger scale and more stable wave of open access market entry has...