Regional Policy in the Americas: The EU Experience as a Guide for North-South Integration?

After ten years the negotiations on the largest free trade agreement to date, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which is to include 34 countries, have still not resulted in an agreement. What can the countries involved learn, both positive and negative, from the experiences of the EU with regional policy?

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The author would like to thank Herman Hoen and J?rg Noll for their comments on an earlier version of this article.     

Minimum Wage Regulations in Selected European Countries

The recent controversy over the EU Directive on Services has given new impetus to the debate on minimum wages. Which EU countries have regulations on minimum wages and to what extent do these regulations differ? Are they effective as an anti-poverty tool?

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The authors wish to thank the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) and the contributing National Centres as well as, in particular, Mark Carley for their support and comments.     

Healthcare Reforms and Governance Concerns

The USA, the UK and Germany – countries with rather different institutional structures and spending levels – have all put healthcare reforms at the top of their domestic policy agendas. In each case, incentive contracts, intended to deal with shortcomings of the current approach, evoke regulatory concerns. A range of common governance challenges can be identified that market-driven healthcare reforms would need to address.

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*Professor of Business Policy and Economics, International Institute of Management Development (IMD), Lausanne, Switzerland.     

Subsidiarity in the European Union

Against the backdrop of the highly controversial debate on the future competences of the different European institutions, the principle of subsidiarity, a fundamental principle of European Union law, has recently met with renewed interest. The contributions to this Forum discuss a number of pertinent issues.

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*A longer version of this article is to be found in H. Tomann (ed.): Die Rolle der europ?ischen Institutionen in der Wirtschaftspolitik, Baden-Baden 2006, Nomos, pp. 59-76.     

Market Constellations and Macroeconomic Policymaking: Institutional Impacts on Economic Performance

The following article presents a broad outline of a market participation theory of economic policy and attempts to determine how macroeconomic demand management can be used to influence market constellations. On that basis it then inquires into how far macroeconomic governance can be used to explain the different growth and employment performances of selected EU countries.

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The author gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Hans B?ckler foundation. This paper is part of a larger project on “Employment systems in international comparison”. The author’s thanks also go to Andrew Watt, Hansj?rg Herr and Carol Hogg for fruitful comments. However, the usual caveats apply.     

Nutrition information and policy: A study of U.S. food production trends

This paper analyzes trends in the production of foods that vary by fat and cholesterol content to assess whether information linking these food characteristics to disease risks affected consumers' food choices. It also examines whether the change in U.S. regulatory policy in 1985, which allowed producers to discuss the relationships between diet and disease in advertising and labeling, led to improvements in food choices, or as many critics of the regulatory change feared, to confusion sufficient to slow improvements in diet.

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Nahrungsmittelinformation und Nahrungsmittelpolitik: Trends in der amerikanischen Nahrungsmittelproduktion

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag analysiert Trends in der Produktion von Nahrungsmitteln, die hinsichtlich ihres Gehaltes an Fett und Cholesterin variieren. Dabei soll herausgefunden werden, ob die Kaufentscheidungen der Konsumenten durch Informationen beeinflu\t werden, die den Fett- und Cholesteringehalt mit gesundheitlichen Risiken in Verbindung bringen. Der Beitrag prüft au\erdem die Veränderungen der staatlichen Regulierungspolitik im Jahre 1985, die es den Herstellern erlaubte, in der Werbung und auf produktbegleitenden Wareninformationen Beziehungen zwischen Ernährung und Krankheit aufzuzeigen. Dabei steht die Frage im Vordergrund, ob diese Veränderung zu verbesserten Einkaufsentscheidungen führte oder, wie viele Kritiker des politischen Wandels fürchteten, zu so viel Verwirrung, da\ Verbesserungen im Bereich der Ernährung behindert werden.

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The articles does not necessarily represent the views of the Federal Trade Commission or any of its members.     

What Type of Regional Policy for Europe?

In promoting European regional development, policymakers tend to pursue either an offensive, future-oriented or a defensive, tradition-preserving type of policy. Backed by theoretical notions and case evidence from an “ordinary” region, i. e. the Italian island of Sardinia, the following paper argues that European regions could benefit more from a “connective” type of policy that aims to connect lobal trends with local traditions.

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This paper was prepared during Paul Benneworth’s visiting fellowship at the University of Twente. The authors wish to thank Henk Donkers, the Regione Sardegna and I&O-Research for input and comments and gratefully acknowledge BBT and IPP for their support.     

Consumer protection in betting

Bettors have been virtually ignored by consumer protection bodies and interest groups. Since wagering contracts are unenforceable in British courts consumer law offers an unsatisfactory basis for bettor protection. The Gaming Board for Great Britain and its regulations offer the necessary protection to gaming consumers and betting needs to be brought under a similar regulatory authority. Draft regulations for this are proposed. They accord bookmakers the rights to engage or not engage in betting on any event from moment to moment and to offer any odds which they wish against the runners in the event. But these rights are subject to their being required, when they are betting, to display their odds, and take bets to a self-chosen amount to lose, on all runners in the event from any customer. They would also be required to display the price of a bet on the event with them in directly informative terms.

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Verbraucherschutz bei Wetten

Zusammenfassung In England sind Personen, die Wetten eingehen, von den Institutionen des Verbraucherschutzes im Grunde genommen völlig übersehen worden. Weil Wett-Verträge nach britischem Recht nicht einklagbar sind, gibt es kaum eine Basis für diese spezielle Form von Verbraucherschutz. Wohl aber bietet die englische Aufsichtsbehörde für das Spielwesen mit ihren Regelungen einen notwendigen Schutz für Personen, die spielen. Der Beitrag plädiert nun dafür, das Wett-Wesen in ähnlicher Weise einer Aufsichtsbehörde zu unterstellen wie das Spielwesen. Regelungen dafür werden vorgeschlagen.Danach sollen Buchmacher als Anbieter von Wett-Verträgen zwar eine weitgehend ungehinderte Möglichkeit haben, Wetten anzubieten. Diese Möglichkeit soll aber geknüpft sein an die Verpflichtung dazu, die Wettverhältnisse offen darzulegen, und an das Recht des Konsumenten, seinen Wetteinsatz selbst zu wählen oder zu bestimmen; außerdem soll kein Teilnehmer der Veranstalter, auf die sich die Wette bezieht, ausgeschlossen werden können. Schließlich müssen die Wett-Bedingungen in einer für jedermann verständlichen Weise offengelegt werden.

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Jack Dowie is Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, U.K. Mark Coton is a freelance writer on betting. His address is 4 Roymount Court, Lovelace Road, Surbiton, KT6 6NW, U.K. David Miers is Senior Lecturer in Law at Cardiff Law School, P.O. Box 427 Museum Avenue, Cardiff CF1 1XD, U.K.     

Change at the ECB Executive Board

In view of the future enlargement of the euro area the European Central Bank (ECB) will have to be reformed. The ECB itself has presented a reform proposal which points in the right direction, but which could be improved upon for more efficient decision-making.

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*Sylvester C. W. Eijffinger, Professor of European Financial Economics and Jean Monnet Professor of European Financial and Monetary Integration, CentER, Tilburg University, The Netherlands; Professor of European Financial Integration, RSM Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Research Fellow, CEPR, London; Member of the Panel of Experts of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament to which the article was first presented as a Briefing Paper in March 2006. Comments on an earlier version of the Briefing Paper by Prof. Hans Blommestein and Dr. Edin Mujagic are gratefully acknowledged.     

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP), a framework for political, economic and social relations between the European Union and its Southern Mediterranean neighbours, saw daylight in Barcelona on 27-29 November 1995. Ten years on, the international conditions in which the EMP operates have been radically altered by events in the Middle East as well as the enlargement of the EU. How well has the partnership performed in this changing environment and what are its prospects for the future?

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* Research Fellow at the United Nations University—Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU—CRIS), Bruges, Belgium.     

Index of Perceived Inflation or EU Consumer Surveys?

After the euro changeover at the beginning of 2002, a marked discrepancy emerged between perceived inflation and inflation as measured by the consumer price index. To what extent are consumers still overestimating price developments even now? How reliably is this phenomenon measured by the “Index of perceived inflation” developed by Professor Brachinger? What are the findings of the consumer surveys conducted on behalf of the European Commission?

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This article represents the personal opinions of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Deutsche Bundesbank.     

The WTO Compatibility of the Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and the ACP Countries

The economic partnership agreements (EPAs) to be negotiated between the European Union and six different ACP regions under the Cotonou Agreement are intended to be in conformity with WTO rules, i.e. satisfy GATT Article XXIV and GATS Article V. To what extent is this realistic? What would be the effects on the ACP countries?

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This article summarises the following study: A. Borrmann, H. Gro?mann, and G. Koopmann: The WTO Compatibility of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and the ACP States, Study on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, Eschborn 2005, http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/enwto-epa-acp-2005.pdf.     

Pension Reform in Europe

Pension reform is high on the agenda almost everywhere in Europe. The contributions to this Forum outline the different pension systems of selected European countries, providing an assessment of both the reform steps taken so far and the need for further reform.

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* The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support provided by the Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft GDV). All errors remain their own.     

Progress or Stagnation?

Progress in the negotiations in services trade is to be reviewed at the sixth WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong in December 2005, this date being crucial for successfully concluding the Doha Development Round. However, the way to a meaningful agreement on services will not be easy. The following article explains the challenges facing the negotiations and the reasons why progress in this field is so difficult to measure.

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*John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany.

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**Professor of International Economics, International University Bremen, Germany.     

Zu neuen Gerichtsentscheidungen über die Verstärkung des Verbraucherschutzes

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag zeigt an zwei Beispielen aus der deutschen Gerichtspraxis, daß Verbraucherschutz nicht nur ein Anliegen an die Gesetzgebung beinhaltet. Vielmehr können Gerichte durch das ihnen vorliegende Fallmaterial verbraucherpolitisch wirken und damit die Rechtsstellung des Verbrauchers verbessern.

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Two court rulings strengthening the protection of consumers

The author describes two examples of consumer protection by German courts. It is suggested that the improvement of the consumer's position is not only a task for the legislator, but is also the result of effective law handling in courts.

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Theo Rasehorn ist Vorsitzender Richter am Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt, 6000 Frankfurt/Main.     

Principles of Climate Policy after 2012

The UN conference on climate change in Montreal ended with an agreement to negotiate the extension of the Kyoto Protocol beyond 2012 and the launch of “open and non-binding” talks with non-Kyoto signatories. The following articles look into a number of challenges that will have to be met on the way to a post-20012 climate policy strategy.

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Axel Michaelowa, Head of research programme International Climate Policy, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA), Germany. Simon Schmitz, Project Officer, Energy & Climate, and Project Manager, Electricity Utilities, at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Geneva, Switzerland. Although the analysis builds on the author’s activities in this function, any conclusions drawn in this article are entirely the author’s own, and do not necessarily represent the views of the WBCSD or its member companies. Preety M. Bhandari, Director, Policy Analysis Division, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi, India. The views expressed are those of the author and may not reflect the position of the Institute to which the author is affiliated. Henrik Hasselknippe, Senior Analyst with Point Carbon, the global provider of independent analysis, forecasting, market intelligence and news for the power, gas and carbon emissions markets, Head Office, Oslo, Norway.     

Offshore Outsourcing

The offshore outsourcing of IT services has become increasingly important for the global IT industry and is creating new uncertainties for the IT workforce in the USA and Western Europe. It is easy to overestimate the benefits of offshore outsourcing, however, if only wage cost differentials are taken into account and the many hidden costs are ignored. The following article discusses the advantages and risks involved in the different phases of offshore projects and presents some conclusions with regard to prospects.

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*Senior Researcher, German Institute for Economic Research, Berlin, Germany.

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**Research Assistant, German Institute for Economic Research, Berlin, Germany.     

Zur Rechtsberatung des Verbrauchers in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über Institutionen, Möglichkeiten und Schwachstellen der Rechtsberatung des Verbrauchers in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Rechtsberatung und allgemeine Beratung gehören zusammen. Sofern es nicht um Streitverfolgung geht, findet das Rechtsberatungsgesetz hier keine Anwendung. Angesichts der wachsenden Bedeutung der Rechtsberatung sollten alle Möglichkeiten zu ihrer Verbesserung ergriffen werden.

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Legal counselling of consumers in the Federal Republic of Germany

This contribution surveys the institutions, strengths and weaknesses of consumer counselling in the F. R. G., especially legal counselling. It is maintained that no firm borderline should be drawn between legal counselling and general economic and buying guidance. The prevailing interpretation of the German law on legal counselling (Rechtsberatungsgesetz) is held to hinder the development of consumer counselling into an integrated system for advising consumers.

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Armin Schoreit ist Regierungsdirektor im Bundesministerium der Justiz, D-5300 Bonn.     

Fuel for the body — Nourishment for dreams: Contradictory roles of food in contemporary Norwegian food advertising

The study explores and identifies the content of contemporary Norwegian food advertising with special attention to the ability of food of conjoining both the physical, social, and symbolic dimensions of human experience. The article focuses especially on the role of food in construction of gender identity. Quantitative and qualitative techniques are applied on a sample of 412 printed food adverts collected from Norwegian weekly and daily press.

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Zusammenfassung Brennstoff für den Körper — Nahrung für TrÄume: GegensÄtzliche Rollen von Nahrungsmitteln in der derzeitigen norwegischen Nahrungsmittelwerbung Berichtet wird über eine Studie zur Erforschung des Inhalts zeitgenössischer norwegischer Nahrungsmittelwerbung mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der FÄhigkeit von Nahrungsmitteln, die physische, die soziale und die symbolische Dimension menschlicher Erfahrung miteinander zu verbinden. Im Mittelpunkt steht die Rolle von Nahrungsmitteln bei der Schaffung der GeschlechtsidentitÄt. Quantitative und qualitative Techniken werden auf Daten angewendet, die aus einer Stichprobe von 412 gedruckten Nahrungsmittelanzeigen aus der norwegischen Tages- und Wochenpresse stammen.

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The author would like to thank Randi Lavik, Eivind Jacobsen and Tormod Lunde for generous support and constructive comments during the data analysis procedure.     

Neue tendenzen des kartellrechtlichen verbraucherschutzes in der BRD

In German consumer protection, antitrust law is playing an increasingly prominent role. This article informs about the problems of protecting consumers against monopolizing pricing practices. It also discusses the law of recommended prices. The author suggests that substantive reforms of the antitrust law are necessary in order to improve the position of the consumer.

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Neue tendenzen des kartellrechtlichen verbraucherschutzes in der BRD

Zusammenfassung Für den Schutz des Verbrauchers in der Bundesrepublik gewinnt das Kartellrecht zunehmende Bedeutung. Der Beitrag stellt dies an den Problemen der Preiskontrolle gegenüber marktbeherrschenden Unternehmen und des Preisempfehlungsrechtes dar. Der Autor verficht hier die These, daß im Zuge der Novellierung des Kartellrechtes auch Vorschriften zur Verbesserung des Verbraucherschutzes erforderlich und möglich sind.

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Norbert Reich ist Professor für Rechtswissenschaft an der Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Politik, 2000 Hamburg 13, Von-Melle-Park 9.