Opinion pieces

  • The price of German leadership, by Charles Grant
    Financial Times, 17 November 2010

    The euro, the European Union’s boldest and most ambitious project, is under threat. Divisions among Europe’s leaders, and their inability to stabilise the euro, have damaged the EU’s reputation on other continents. The good news is that the EU now has an emerging leader.

  • Why Germany is not a model for Europe, by Philip Whyte
    Der Tagesspiel, 10 November 2010

    Germany's economy has been winning numerous plaudits of late. It is not hard to see why. Previously much-vaunted economies "Ireland, Spain, the UK and the US, to name just four" lived way beyond their means for far too long.

  • David Cameron's budget fight remains an EU sideshow, by Katinka Barysch
    The Guardian, 29 October 2010

    David Cameron has won his first European victory. At this week's EU summit in Brussels, he seemingly persuaded a dozen other European leaders to back his demand to limit to 2.9% next year's EU spending increase. Britain's eurosceptics wanted a freeze or a reduction.

  • The rise of the Euro-punks, by Hugo Brady
    E!Sharp, 22 October 2010

    Recently I attended an off-the-record Brussels “think-in” where a very prominent European politician wondered out loud what the future would be for the EU now that his children’s generation were taking the reins.

  • Europe frets over foreign investments in the defence industry, by Clara Marina O'Donnell
    Yale Global Online, 15 October 2010

    A small number of sovereign investors, sometimes originating from non-democratic states, are buying shares in European aerospace and defense companies. Some EU governments have responded by calling for tougher controls on foreign investment in these industries.

  • EU economic reforms fall short on growth, by Simon Tilford
    Financial Times, 30 September 2010

    The European Commission announced proposals for reform of eurozone governance on Wednesday, calling for closer monitoring of member states’ public finances and tougher penalties for alleged fiscal ill-discipline.

  • How to fix the eurozone, by Katinka Barysch
    International Herald Tribune, 27 September 2010

    A recent European Union meeting to review blueprints for better management of the euro got overshadowed by a noisy row over France’s decision to send scores of Roma – or gypsies – back to Bulgaria and Romania.

  • The strategic consequences of the euro crisis, by Charles Grant
    Europe's world, 01 September 2010

    The euro crisis will be with us for many years. The underlying causes, such as southern Europe's lack of competitiveness, cannot be remedied overnight; Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain face years of low growth, severe curbs on public spending and perhaps social unrest.