Opinion pieces

  • Defending European defence in partnership with NATO, strengthening the EU's military muscle is the right idea, by Tomas Valasek
    The Wall Street Journal, 09 December 2008

    Ten years ago in St. Malo, Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac launched the European security and defence policy, or ESDP. They had the right idea: The European Union needs a defence arm if it is to play a global role, and with the demand for peacekeepers rising, ESDP could give a needed boost to the efforts of NATO and the United Nations. Or at least that was the theory.

  • Unilateral Germany threatens to weaken Europe, by Charles Grant
    Financial Times, 05 December 2008

    In Brussels, Paris, Washington and other capitals, one increasingly hears the same complaint: Germany is acting unilaterally. On a broad range of issues, the Germans seem to think the European Union no longer advances their interests and are more prone to go their own way.

  • Crisis shows imbalances are not sustainable indefinitely, by Simon Tilford
    Financial Times, 27 November 2008

    Sir, Paul Betts (“All for one, but none for all to revive Europe’s fortunes”, November 24) argues that Germany should wait for other countries to boost their economies (and hence demand for German exports) rather than taking steps to boost German domestic demand.

  • This is no time to listen to the siren call of the euro, by Philip Whyte, Simon Tilford
    The Guardian, 14 October 2008

    Since the Labour party entered office in 1997, the UK economy has become more "European". One of the government's first acts in office was to sign up to the EU's social chapter. It followed this with the introduction of a minimum wage in 1999, along with sustained increases in public expenditure.

  • Don't undermine free markets, by Philip Whyte, Simon Tilford
    International Herald Tribune, 08 October 2008

    Commentators and politicians have been falling over themselves to read the last rites to "Anglo-Saxon" capitalism. Anglo-Saxons have undoubtedly been guilty of profligacy and hubris.

  • The Russian challenge, by Katinka Barysch
    Yale Global Online, 03 October 2008

    The US and Europe increasingly seem at odds over an assertive Russia, flush with oil money, strong militarily and ambitious with an educated, nationalistic population. This two-part YaleGlobal series explores the implications for Europe, the US and the world.

  • Brussels's Bad Medicine, by Simon Tilford
    The Wall Street Journal, 02 October 2008

    Europe's prosperity depends on its developing and sustaining high-tech businesses. Twenty years ago, Europe was the center of the pharmaceutical industry, which invested roughly 30% more in R&D here than in the U.S.

  • Europe and the Georgia-Russia conflict, by Katinka Barysch
    Open democracy, 30 September 2008

    The European Union played a key diplomatic role in mediating the Caucasus war. Now it must do more to manage the wider tensions with Russia that have followed. Katinka Barysch offers a policy checklist.