Trump – Poland’s biggest climate ally?
By Konrad Świrski “Except for showcasing the First Ladies’ fashionable gowns, the Sicily’s G7 summit also resulted in the predictable appearance of support for Poland’s lonely climate negotiation...
View ArticleNord Stream 2: Scoop on the European Commission’s mandate. The EC will not...
‘ve gained access to the draft mandate of the European Council for EC negotiations with Russia on the Nord Stream 2 project. It’s a classified document and only a few people have access to it in every...
View ArticleAre we prepared for the digital transformation?
Looking back over time, we can see that the Information Age has made our economies and our society knowledge-driven; our main drivers of growth have become based on pushing bits up and down (digital...
View ArticleWhy the EU will have an industrial policy – but not necessarily a good one
How best to support its industry has been a perennial issue for the European Union (EU). The Commission’s approach has been an attempt to mainstream industrial competitiveness across policy areas. But...
View ArticleCracking the transparency wall of the European Union
In turbulent times for the European Union when some nations see the building of walls as a necessity while for others it is a symbol of the dark age of the Iron curtain, there is one physically...
View ArticleThe EU Commission’s populist rhetoric on dual food quality
When EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker mentioned in his state of the union address to the European Parliament that it is unacceptable that some member states get lower quality products in...
View ArticleGeorgia’s New Plain Packaging Rules: How We Bully Countries into Bad Laws
The Republic of Georgia parachuted into law a plan mandating plain packaging for all tobacco products. As of now, only Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France make it compulsory for...
View ArticleInitial Coin Offerings exploded but they are still striving to get approval...
ogether with the boom of the Initial Public Offerings (IPO) at the end of the 1990s, the presentation of the Bitcoin White Paper in 2008 and the activation of the blockchain-based Ethereum Platform in...
View ArticleThe Sub-Saharan Challenge for Europe
a press conference during the last G20 summit, Emmanuel Macron said, as a response to question about Africa’s development problems, that even if you spend billions of euros, you will not be able to...
View ArticlePresident Macron, politics and a realistic approach to the future of the Euro
resident Macron in his sweeping vision of the Future of Europe (delivered on the 26th of September) correctly identifies the centrality of the Euro to the long term economic power of Europe. Through...
View ArticleThe German word for ‘debt’ also means ‘guilt’
hat do the numbers 2 trillion, 2.1 trillion, 326 billion and 388 billion all have in common? That’s right, they’re all the total numbers of debt of European countries, namely (and in that order),...
View ArticleThe European anti-trade sentiment: a fallacy, not a fact
oday being pro-trade and defending globalisation seem to be out of fashion. After Trump crushed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP), and put the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) under his...
View ArticleBus market liberalisation: the European Commission gets it right
he European Union’s Commission laid out a proposal for the liberalisation of the European inter-city bus market. As a part of the second phase of the Commission’s mobility pack, Brussels will allow bus...
View ArticleThe Döner debate is emblematic for the need for evidence-based policy-making
n a recent move by Social Democrats and Greens in the European Parliament, there has been a call to phase-out the use of phosphate in the fast-food product döner kebab. This was, at least, the headline...
View ArticleA Post-Brexit Silicon Britain? Why Not!
e have had a lot of doom and gloom this year. London-based banks worrying us with talk of moving to Frankfurt, uncertainty on migration to and from the continent; for a while, it seemed as though...
View ArticleBoth political and corporate health scares are irresponsible
functional market economy requires informed consumers, who a sufficiently informed about the products and services that they consume. Despite there being difficulties to achieve an absolutely...
View ArticleUberisation brings the case for economic federalism
ecent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union that Uber is a transportation company represents a short-term win for the European taxi branch. It empowers the national governments to...
View ArticleEurope has the potential to become the global blockchain powerhouse – Let’s...
he last year marked unseen price surges of cryptocurrencies. Now 2018 seems to challenge Bitcoin and Co. on how resilient these innovations and their investors will be. Though blockchain is famous for...
View ArticleDon’t summon demons you can’t control – Or how Boeing nearly caused a...
he last six months saw a lot of headlines on the ongoing trade dispute between the two plane manufacturers Boeing and the Canadian Bombardier. Boeing complained about Delta Airlines purchasing 75 of...
View ArticleTech remains Britain’s Best Hope post-Brexit
ack in December, I wrote that Britain must embrace the tech market if it wanted to remain a global player post-Brexit. Increased EU regulation of the tech sector represented a window of opportunity to...
View ArticleDigital — a game changer in the Western Balkans
he 6 February 2018 in the new the European Commission strategy for the Western Balkans, for the first time since the first steps of this region towards EU, the digital agenda became central. Launching...
View ArticleGerman diesel bans: where’s the consumer choice?
n a landmark ruling this week, the German Federal Administrative Court has decided that cities have the right to ban diesel cars. The federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Nordrhein-Westfalen had...
View ArticleThe Zuckerberg takeaways and what they mean for the EU
his week Mark Zuckerberg appeared before Congress in Washington D.C. to testify over two consecutive days in relation to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The CEO of Facebook addressed a series of...
View ArticleAutomation as a threat in a globalised Europe
alamity – or something very close to it – will come upon millions of European citizens in the next decade. Their quality of life, measured by nearly every Eurostat indicator, will decline sharply....
View ArticleTrump Leaves Iran Agreement, What does it mean for Oil?
ts been a zombie agreement for a while. The 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) appeared doomed long before President Trump took office....
View ArticleWhat Does Brexit Mean For Coffee?
n unlikely result of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union is that a cup of Joe may become a little more expensive at chain cafés but cheaper for those who brew at home. That’s the prediction...
View ArticleHow Europe’s Pharmacy Lobby wants us to keep paying too much for Aspirin
he European Union has been successful in opening and liberalizing many industries in the past decades. Among them telecommunication, airlines, and banking. All these liberalization efforts lead to...
View ArticleHow Fisheries Could Be Sustainable, and Profitable
he ocean covers seven tenths of the earth’s surface, and yet unlike land it largely remains a wilderness, with little of it cultivated or sensibly managed. It has enormous potential. A 2009 report for...
View ArticleThe personal data under your skin, an innovation for the future society
man from United Kingdom has got out from house without any key. Maybe has forgotten his keys at home, but it seems that does not need them anymore. He walks relaxed and then opens the car’s door just...
View ArticleThe future of the European society in the hands of the Digital Assembly
ofia, 25-26 June 2018. The forum of the Digital Assembly has reunited this year in Bulgaria. In the words of the international broadcasting station of Bulgaria, this was “the biggest event during...
View ArticleEnergy 2020: Europe leads the way
he European Union established a set of goals for Energy and Climate with benchmarks for 2020 and 2030. As 2020 approaches, it seems the EU will manage to effectively fulfill all four headlines set: 20%...
View ArticleHere’s a question consumers should ask the European Commission
onsumer have a lot of demands towards the European Commission, but one key question really needs to be asked. It’s a question of trust. There is this truism that says that you only notice what you are...
View ArticleEnd of Greek bailout, victory or defeat?
xiting crisis marks a new era for both Greece and Europe. The crisis was not only economic but also a crisis of democracy, and this became apparent from the election results on a pan-European level....
View ArticleWith basic income Europe can reduce poverty
he idea of European citizenship still dominates, being the world’s only “real” post-national and non-state citizenship that provides an individual with freedoms, obligations, rights and a sense of...
View ArticleThe Internet of Things needs freedom, not government guidance
he Digital Single Market debate within the European Union is set to continue for years to come. Instead of planned policies, tech companies need freedom. The Internet of Things describes the usefulness...
View ArticleEU duties on goods from Southeast Asia as a post-Brexit trade opportunity
here the EU is walking the plank, the UK should be able to recognise and seize post-Brexit opportunities. On 6 November, the Italian government asked the European Commission to apply the “safeguard...
View ArticleANALYSIS — The EU’s Budget Conundrum: Reform and Counter-reform
t is after weeks of declarations and political commitments that France and Germany, in last week’s extraordinary Eurogroup meeting, presented a draft plan on a joint Eurozone budget. French Economy...
View ArticleANALYSIS — An analysis of the efforts to combat corporate tax avoidance in...
n April 2013, the Offshore Leaks opened the doors of a secret world to the public. A world of hidden money, sweetheart deals between governments and multinationals, and shockingly low tax rates for...
View ArticleThe European Commission needs a new approach to illicit tobacco
ristian-Silviu Busoi, a Romanian MEP and trained physician who has served in the chamber since 2007, will be hosting a seminar at the Parliament on January 29th to take on two questions that have vexed...
View ArticleThe EU and Japan: The Revival of a Partnership
ess than two months before the fulfilment of Brexit and during a wave of global protectionism, one of the biggest trade deals in history, taking place between the European Union and Japan, will enter...
View ArticleRice tariffs: who are we kidding on the EU’s “free trade”?
he European Union introduces tariffs on rice from Cambodia and Myanmar in an effort to protect Italien farmers. Another example of “free trade” à la European Union. It was announced last Wednesday that...
View ArticlePolitical Alienation in the Labour Market: The Future of Populism in Europe
or the past few years, the European Union has witnessed a vast increase in support towards populist movements. Although this phenomenon has been classified as a severe concern by the conventional...
View ArticleDoing the Maths: The Economic Cost of Climate Change to Europe
oney Talks is a well-known expression dating back to the 5th century B.C., and attributed to Euripides[1]. Some 2,000 years later Erasmus spoke of “the talking power of money” (Adagia, 1532). These...
View ArticleThe American “New Energy Realism” and the prospects of US LNG in the EU
he “energy dominance” term[1] is both a major vow and focus of “America First” vision and a hallmark of the energy policies pursued by Trump administration. It reflects the return of the United...
View ArticlePOLICY BRIEF | Are EU-US trade talks going to fail?
n 15 April 2019, the EU Council of Ministers agreed to resume negotiations on EU-US trade. Only France voted against and Belgium abstained from voting. According to POLITICO, the “agreement in...
View ArticlePOLICY PAPER | The EU, Foreign Policy and the Race for Artificial Intelligence
he potential effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on international relations cannot be understated as the global race for AI has considerably picked up the pace in recent years. Exponential growth...
View ArticleSeven years after the first bailout, Greece is back in the headlines
by Georgia Bachti Last Monday, Eurozone finance ministers met to discuss the state of play in Greece…
View ArticleGreen Energy Production in Poland is Decreasing
by Bartłomiej Derski “After a brief increase, green certificates which were supposed to support the production of clean…
View ArticleNord Stream 2: How a legal matter became part a soft power’s aspect
Over the recent months, the debate around the issue regarding the regulatory aspects applying to the Nord…
View ArticleThe long journey to end energy poverty in Europe
By Claire Dhéret* and Marco Giuli* Energy poverty, defined as the “inability to afford basic energy services such…
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