At present, the European Union (EU) is facing the biggest round of enlargement in its history. Many of the EU accession countries, which are less developed than the incumbents, will seek accession to the European Monetary Union (EMU) soon after the required two-year qualifying period. This is...

We explore the role of the transfers that UK regions received from the European structural and cohesion funds, as well as other economic and social factors, in determining the support for the Remain vote in the Brexit referendum. We find that past European transfers have played virtually no role...

Im Zuge der europäischen Integration haben die nationalen Regierungen Kompetenzen an europäische Institutionen abgegeben. Die Folge ist, daß die ökonomische Entwicklung in der EU mehr und mehr von wirtschaftsräumlichen Faktoren anstatt von administrativen nationalen Unterschieden bestimmt...

A major characteristic of the European Union is its transitional or evolving nature, in particular with regard to the assignment of powers between the two main levels of government. More precisely, under current constitutional arrangements, this evolving nature takes the form of an integration...

This paper examines the transition process within Eastern Europe and the integration process with the EU and shows that the requirements for the transition towards a market economy overlap with the requirements for EU accession. Furthermore, the economic situation of the candidate countries is...

Why do some countries join the EU earlier than others, why do others wait? In order to answer this question we apply the theory of investment under uncertainty (Dixit and Pindyck, 1994) to the decision on EU-membership. We develop a simplified model of two periods to study how the value of...

Since its foundation, the European Union contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and prosperity in Europe. This process over the years has been followed by several challenges. This research observes the challenges and prospects of European integration for the...

Mitten in der Griechenland-Krise haben die Präsidenten der fünf wichtigsten europäischen Institutionen Vorschläge für eine weitere Integration der Europäischen Währungsunion unterbreitet. Sie beziehen sich dabei auf die Wirtschafts-, Finanzmarkt- und Bankenunion und gehen sogar so weit,...

Feedback mechanisms are the key to sequencing when it comes to regional integration; can mean that today's policy or institution alters the political-economy landscape in a way that makes it politically optimal for future governments to take further steps toward integration - even when these...

This paper develops a 'structural political economy' approach to two fundamental tensions that emerged as the eurozone crisis unfolded: real exchange rate misalignments and external debt build-up. The approach builds on a classical legacy going back to Francois Quesnay, who conceptualised...