EU banking unionPolitical Union Eurozone limits
  • What a banking union means for Europe
    Essay by Philip Whyte, 05 December 2012
    What a banking union means for Europe
  • Alice in euroland: What political union for the single currency?
    Insight by Philip Whyte, 09 October 2012
    Alice in euroland: What political union for the single currency?
  • Has the eurozone reached the limits of the politically possible?
    Insight by Simon Tilford, 12 July 2012
    Has the eurozone reached the limits of the politically possible?
  • The dangers of a disgruntled Germany
    Insight by Katinka Barysch, 07 May 2010

    Germany has finally agreed to help bail out Greece. The negotiations were acrimonious and took months. Angela Merkel’s hesitation and prevarication have increased the cost of the bail-out and unsettled financial markets.
  • Turning Japanese?
    Insight by Simon Tilford, 30 April 2010

    Japan has long had the highest level of public debt of any developed economy. The country’s public debt to GDP ratio is around 200 per cent of GDP, far in excess of even the EU’s worst performers.
  • There can be no eurozone stability without economic growth
    Bulletin article by Simon Tilford, 01 April 2010

    The German government believes that tougher fiscal rules are the solution to current strains in the eurozone. No doubt such rules are necessary. But they are not enough.

  • Greece rescue is just a sticking plaster
    Opinion piece by Charles Grant
    The Guardian, 30 March 2010

    For several years it has been evident that any momentum the European Union had for further integration has been dwindling. For instance, despite the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty, the EU shows few signs of developing more united and effective foreign policies.

  • Why Christine Lagarde is right about Germany
    Insight by Philip Whyte, 26 March 2010

    Greece’s recent fiscal travails have, slightly unexpectedly, thrown the spotlight on Germany’s current-account surplus. In mid-March, France’s finance minister, Christine Lagarde, urged Germany to do more to boost domestic demand – a call echoed by the European Commission’s president, José Manuel Barroso.
  • It’s the economics, stupid
    Insight by Simon Tilford, 26 February 2010

    There was always a risk that a one-size-fits-all monetary policy would lead to big divergences in inflation and competitiveness across the eurozone. This, in turn, would result in trade imbalances which would be difficult to reverse.
  • Europe cannot afford to let Greece default
    Opinion piece by Simon Tilford
    Financial Times, 15 January 2010

    The eurozone cannot afford to make an example of crisis-hit Greece. Claims by officials and politicians in the currency bloc's fiscally more robust economies - including Wolfgang Schauble, Germany's finance minister - that the Greeks will have to find their own way out of the crisis, are not credible.
  • Sharing the burden of a weaker dollar
    Bulletin article by Simon Tilford, 01 December 2009

    The eurozone has suffered a deep recession – bigger than the US and about as bad as that in the UK. Public finances across the eurozone have worsened dramatically, and in some cases now look perilous.