The European Monetary Union

The final stage of the European Monetary Union (EMU) is approaching; the single currency goes into effect on January 1, 1999. The article discusses the far-reaching ramifications of the euro in the context of the international monetary system. Current challenges facing the implementation of the new currency are addressed such as unemployment, high budget deficits, and general skepticism both EU members and non-members have expressed. The argument is made that acceptance and widespread use of the single currency will provide a framework for a deeper economic and political integration across Europe. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

欧盟在华直接投资对中国与欧盟贸易的影响

本文运用面板数据的方法,研究了欧盟在华直接投资对中国与欧盟贸易的影响,结论表明,欧盟在华直接投资促进了中国对欧盟各成员国的进出口贸易,但影响较小,影响中、欧贸易的主要因素是中国和欧盟各成员国的经济实力(GDP)。这表明欧盟在华投资企业的市场战略主要是针对中国广阔的国内市场的。文章最后部分对如何促进欧盟对华直接投资和扩大中、欧贸易提出了建议。     

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.     

Challenges facing European Monetary Union

Forum

Challenges facing European Monetary Union     

The path to European Monetary Union

The planned broadening of the common internal market into an economic and monetary union as proposed in the Delors Plan means a significant qualitative leap in the process of European integration, which should ultimately lead to political union in Europe. Is this objective realistic? In what ways could it be achieved?     

Immeasurable inequality in the European Union

Over time, the European Union has acquired more and more of the attributes of a state and, in economic terms, it can arguably be considered a single market. Nevertheless, the differences between member states are enormous. Small, rich countries, such as Luxembourg, contrast sharply with big, poor ones, such as Romania. Despite this, many indicators are published which refer to the EU as a whole, including measures of income inequality. According to Eurostat1, the ratio between the incomes of the top and bottom quintiles is 5. But is this figure even roughly adequate? This paper will argue that it vastly underestimates the true level of inequality in the EU which, unfortunately, is immeasurable in the twofold sense that it is both hard to measure and extremely high.     

Consumer protection within the European Union

In April 1992, the Danish Parliament published an information paper regarding Denmark and the European Union which was distributed to all homes. The paper said, among other things, that a number of new areas are explicitly incorporated in the EC cooperation. Consumer protection was mentioned as an example. It is, however, questionable whether the Maastricht Treaty in this area involves anything more than a formal, statutory confirmation that the EC may work for the protection of consumers precisely as before. The Edinburgh declaration on Denmark and the European Union does not seem to contain an answer.

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Verbraucherschutz innerhalb der Europäischen Union

Zusammenfassung Im April 1992 veröfentlichte das dänische Parlament ein Informationspapier über Dänemark und die Europäische Union, das allen dänischen Haushalten zugestellt wurde. Unter anderem wurde darin behauptet, da\ eine Reihe néuer Bereiche in die Europäische Kooperation ausdrücklich neu aufgenommen worden sind. Verbraucherschutz wurde als ein Beispiel genannt. Allerdings ist fraglich, ob der Vertrag von Maaastricht gerade in diesem Bereich irgendetwas enthält, das über die formale vertragliche Bestätigung dessen hinausgeht, da\ die Europäische Gemeinschaft beim Verbraucherschutz genauso weiterarbeiten kann wie zuvor. Die Deklaration von Edinburgh über Dänemark und die Europäische Union enthält offendar nichts, was diese Frage beantworten könnte.

     

Corporate Taxes in the European Union

The enlargement of the European Union in 2004 and 2007 by a number of countries with comparatively low corporate tax rates – seen by some as representing an unfair competitive advantage – has refuelled the debate on corporate taxation in Europe. The present Forum highlights a number of pertinent issues and discusses the challenges implied for European corporate tax policy. *The authors are indebted to Andreas Reutter for helpful comments. **The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author. They should not be attributed to the European Commission. The author wishes to thank Anton Jevcav for valuable comments. ? European Communities, 2007.     

Economic and political risks of European Monetary Union

As demonstrated by the last European Union summit meetings, the heads of government and of state of the EU's member states appear firmly intent on starting the planned monetary union on schedule on 1st January 1999. The statements they make, and also any pamphlets and advertisements published by their governments and the European Commission, tend to concentrate one-sidedly on the purported advantages of monetary union. Nevertheless, in most EU countries plans for monetary union are greeted with scepticism or disapproval by a large section of the general public. There are good reasons for this reaction because, as will be explained below, European Monetary Union is in fact associated with serious economic and political risks.     

The Enlarged European Union and Its Eastern Neighborhood

Abstract

This paper deals with the economic relations between Russia, Ukraine and the enlarged European Union. We start with some essential characteristics regarding the huge gaps in the size and trade structures of these three economic entities, before briefly outlining the development of their institutional relations. We discuss the impacts of EU enlargement on Russia and Ukraine, as well as the prospects for Russia—Ukraine relations. Given all the complexities of these relations, the mutual interdependence and the uncertainties concerning the future, we conclude that rather than devising grand new schemes, Russia, Ukraine and the EU should focus on practical steps that would facilitate closer cooperation in areas such as the development of border regions, the implementation of a free trade area and the support of economic reforms. Regarding Ukraine, whose official aspirations of EU membership seem highly unrealistic at least in the medium term and whose already high economic dependency on Russia is becoming even more pronounced, the policy challenges will be formidable. Whether Ukraine will succeed in a fine-tuned balancing act to establish closer relations with both the enlarged EU and Russia simultaneously, remains to be seen. Concerning economics, Ukraine's already intense eastward integration may even deependespite Ukraine possibly getting more hearing in the EU at the insistence of some new member states.     

The road to European Economic and Monetary Union

The debate on the concrete shape of the second stage of European economic and monetary union ist in full swing. What are the benefits that may be expected from EMU? What risks have to be avoided?     

Perceived credit constraints in the European Union

The promotion and support of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is an essential component of policies designed to help improve Europe’s economic performance. A crucial issue is whether SMEs face difficulty obtaining bank loans. Using pre-crisis survey data from 2005 and 2006 for nearly 3,500 SMEs (firms with fewer than 250 employees) in the European Union (EU), we investigate the determinants of perceived bank loan accessibility at the firm level and at the country level. Based on hierarchical (multi-level) binomial logit regressions, our findings show that the youngest and smallest SMEs have the worst perception of access to bank loans. The SMEs in nations with concentrated banking sectors are more positive about loan accessibility. In addition, a high fraction of foreign-owned banks is associated with improved perception of loan accessibility in the EU 15 but not in the EU 10.     

The Neighbourhood Policy of the European Union

The European Neighbourhood Policy aims at creating a ring of stable, friendly and democratic countries surrounding the European Union. While this aim is generally accepted across the Union, major differences persist as to how it should be achieved. Where does the ENP stand today? What is its profile, potential and perspective?     

欧盟东扩:各方反应如何

欧盟东扩犹如巨石落水。在世界经济大潮中激起阵阵波澜，国际社会的方方面面将以怎样心态加以对待呢?相关国家的利弊得失又如何呢?     

The Climate Policy of the European Union

There is now almost universal agreement that climate change, with potentially disastrous consequences, is happening and that it is contributed to by human activities. This Forum is dedicated to the discussion of various aspects of the European Union's climate policy, e.g. the EU's future role in the global effort to combat global warming, the efficiency of its climate strategy, the design of a new rule for sharing the corresponding burdens fairly among member states, and the interrelationships between the Union's climate policies, on the one hand, and its energy and transport policies, on the other. * and member of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). The author wishes to thank Helen Bicknell (Mainz University of Applied Sciences), Oliver Deke (WBGU) and Jürgen Schmid (ISET, Department of Efficient Energy Conversion at the University of Kassel) for their helpful comments. ** This contribution is based on a Jean Monnet Lecture held at Aarhus University on 19 March 2007. The author would like to thank Harri Kalimo for valuable comments.     

Taxation of interest in the European Union

Having struggled for a number of years with formulating a directive concerning the treatment of interest payments from financial institutions in member countries to persons resident in other member countries, the ministers of finance of the EU countries reached a compromise in November 2000. Rather than being a solution, however, what is now on the table might well amount to the opening of a Pandora's box of new problems.     

Consumer Behaviour Convergence in the European Union

This paper examines and contrasts the attitude to food shopping in Denmark and Spain in both grocery products and white goods used to store and prepare foods. The focus is on the underlying dimensions used by consumers in Copenhagen and Madrid to select food and electrical stores to patronise. The attributes studied are drawn from prior research and are consistent across the two product categories. The research concludes that there is a relatively meaningful set of attributes, which is limited in size, that consumers may employ to make judgements. The salience of individual attributes was shown to vary with the sector under consideration. Contrasts are evident between the attribute ranking given by Danish and Spanish consumers. Particular attention is paid to the manner in which consumers distinguish between ‘service’ and ‘personnel’ in making their store selection. The work is set in the context of the retail internationalisation literature, where it is held that there is a convergence of consumer tastes in different international markers that facilitate operators developing stores overseas. Some evidence is produced to support this idea, though the need for additional cross-cultural and longitudinal studies to test this idea further is recognised.