In this paper, we develop an analysis of the reasons for the apparent failure of the “Lisbon strategy” (2000) so far. After having made the general case for a comprehensive “institutionalist perspective” on the European economy, we first try to formalise the objectives of “Lisbon” in...

The European Constitutional Treaty (ECT) was presented by its drafters as an explicit constitution for the European Union (EU 25). We argue that considered as the European economic constitution its provisions do not sufficiently allow for the possibility of cooperative collective decision...

Last year’s International Collaboration Project had helped to highlight several key determinants of potential growth in the European Union (EU): basing upon growth accounting techniques, the main difference between the EU and the US had been shown not to rest on total factor productivity...

This paper explores the consequences of pension reforms in Western Europe in a world economy setting. Whereas various economic and social consequences of ageing have been investigated in OECD countries, very few analyses have explicitly taken the worldwide aspect of the problem into account. In...

This study is concerned with the future financing of the EU budget, including possible budgetary correction mechanisms, and is intended to feed into the budget review. The revenue side of the EU budget comprises several elements, all of which need to be assessed in appraising the functioning of...

The Report on the State of the European Union examines the progress of European integration and focuses on economic aspects of the process. This second volume in the series explores the four crises of contemporary Europe, those of growth, trust, inequalities and unity.