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| In the Convention and elsewhere, Europe is once again debating its institutional framework. Gilles Andréani, in this essay provides a valuable contribution to this debate by analysing the steady rise of 'inter-governmentalism' over the last decade. He points out that a Europe of nation-states has too often degenerated into petty squabbles over minor issues. The retreat of the federalist idea has hampered the development of robust European policies in areas such as internal security and foreign affairs. |
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| Western businesses and policy-makers must first grasp the "unwritten rules" that underpin the Russian economy, if they are to play a role in its transformation, according to this CER essay. Too often foreign investors and policy-makers focus on the ineffectiveness of the rule of law, rather than starting by looking what does work in Russia and how. "If legislative reforms and law enforcement do not operate in the expected way, it is logical to suppose that something is working against them, and working very efficiently", write author Alena Ledeneva. "What is it? A tentative answer can be found in popular wisdom: "Russia is a country of unread laws and unwritten rules." |
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| Now that the euro has stabilised, Greece has joined EMU and the EU has committed itself to enlargement, the time is right to consider these critical issues of economic governance. The authors argue that monetary union requires a higher level of co-ordination because member-states and the ECB are now more mutually dependent than ever. This essay therefore calls for greater clarity around the principles and rules of policymaking to be embedded in an "economic policy charter". |
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| There is a commonly held misconception that the design of constitutions and governments is shaped by logic. It is often forgotten that accident, coincidence and personalities play as great a role in the formation of our political landscape as do the underlying forces of reason or common sense. There is nothing perfect or immutable about the political environment we inhabit. It can always be improved. |
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| Tony Blair's presentation to the House of Commons of a national changeover plan for the adoption of the euro, last February, will come to be seen as a defining moment in Britain's path towards economic and monetary union (EMU). It moved the debate forward and put EMU firmly at the forefront of national economic strategy. Government funds have now been earmarked for the conversion of public sector computer systems and processes. |
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| The launch of the euro is a success of historic proportions. It is also the ultimate vindication of the method first sketched out nearly fifty years ago in the Schuman memorandum. That memorandum - the work of Robert Schuman and Jean Monnet- sought to promote economic integration in order to attain a political objective, while avoiding a precise definition of what that objective should be. Today, as we witness the birth of the euro, this "method" is still very much alive. |
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| Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is back on the table once again - not that it has ever been absent for long. With the inter-governmental conference out of the way, the European Commission is due to present a major package of reforms during the summer of 1997. They will be designed to prepare the EU's agricultural sector for the challenges of enlargement and the next WTO trade round. Britain's new Labour government, like its predecessor, has put agricultural reform at the top of its European agenda, and has pledged that it will be a priority during its presidency of the European Union in the first half of 1998. |
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| The European Union's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) has been widely pilloried within Britain, particularly in the last two or three years, and cited as another example of Brussels' ineptitude and its prejudice against British interests. The controversy over the future of the fishing industry has re-opened a number of painful old scars, and many people have refused to recognise the extent to which the conservation of the fisheries around our shores must depend on successful international co-operation – and on uncomfortable decisions to reduce, British, as well as other European, fishing. |
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| Describing the old Common Market, Walter Hallstein, the Commission's first President, remarked: "Anyone who does not believe in miracles in European affairs is no realist". Given the obstacles which lie in the path of further integration, perhaps it's time we all became realists. Walter Hallstein witnessed the 'miracle' of the Common Market come to fruition.This essay is based on a speech given at the London School of Economics on 12 June 1997. In this speech Niall FitzGerald re-affirms the case for Europe's nations working together to deliver peace and prosperity. He argues that for Tomorrow's Europe to be successful, three economic pillars must be in place. |
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There is an almost daily diet of frenzied debate about the future of this country in the European Union. Why add to it? Europe is after all not the most vital topic which people see as affecting their everyday lives. The economy, law and order, education, health, the environment in which we live, and our local services - all these are seen as having more immediate and tangible impact on our quality of life. I believe this is as true for the peoples of France, Germany, and our other partners in the European Union.
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