Research
A mandate for convergence
01 June 1999
The government is missing a trick by failing to encourage the Bank of England to play an active part in ensuring Britain's economic convergence with the euro-zone.
The prime minister has repeatedly said joining EMU requires the UK's "sustainable convergence with the economies of the single currency". This doesn't mean exchange-rate...
The prime minister has repeatedly said joining EMU requires the UK's "sustainable convergence with the economies of the single currency". This doesn't mean exchange-rate...
What next for Kosovo?
01 June 1999
Although the guns have yet to fall silent, there is an urgent need to sort out the rehabilitation of Kosovo. Even under the best of scenarios, this is going to be an expensive and excruciating business.
Why Europe needs a constitution
01 June 1999
Europe cannot survive as a political entity without being a working democracy. Here are three simple propositions about how it can become one. The first is that nothing which is too complicated for the ordinary voter to understand can ever be democratic.
Issue 6 - 1999
28 May 1999
- The EU needs defence convergence criteria, François Heisbourg
- A mandate for convergence, Kitty Ussher
- What next for Kosovo?, Michael Maclay
- Why Europe needs a constitution, Andrew Marr
Will EMU lead to a European economic government?
07 May 1999
Both proponents and opponents of economic and monetary union (EMU) have always viewed it as an engine of further European integration and as another milestone on the road to an ill-defined 'political union'.
Name the day: The business case for joining the euro
02 April 1999
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).
Scotland Europa: Independence in Europe?
02 April 1999
There is a question mark over the future of the nation-state in Europe. National monetary sovereignty has been transferred to the European level in most EU states.
Europe's emerging political union
01 April 1999
As many Darwinians believe that evolution has progressed not steadily, but through occasional, sudden spurts. The European Union may be evolving in a similar way.
The danger of centralisation
01 April 1999
During Oskar Lafontaine's brief reign as German finance minister, Europe seemed to veer towards much greater centralisation of economic policy-making. He argued that governments needed to forge a more centralised system of economic policy-making.
Europe's wake up call
01 April 1999
"We've made it!" That was the predominant feeling among leading continental politicians and officials in the weeks after January 1st. The many merchants of doom had been proven wrong.
Issue 5 - 1999
26 March 1999
- Europe's emerging political union, Charles Grant
- The danger of centralisation, Ben Hall
- Europe's wake up call, Steven Everts
Russia in Europe
05 February 1999
Russia is a European country, though a very peculiar one. Russia is also in deep crisis. But the situation in Russia is never as bad or as good as it seems.
Europe's uncertain identity
05 February 1999
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.
The EU budget: An agenda for reform
05 February 1999
The nastiest arguments in the European Union, as in any family, are the ones about money. Communautaire sentiment soon evaporates when prime ministers start to haggle over the budget.
The end of EADC
01 February 1999
A little over a year ago the political leaders of Britain, France and Germany launched their plan for a European Aerospace and Defence Company (EADC).
The myth of tax harmonisation
01 February 1999
There are no plans to harmonise European Union rates of VAT, income tax or company tax. Yet the inhabitants of Britain could be forgiven for thinking precisely the opposite.
Give on the rebate to gain elsewhere
01 February 1999
At their special summit in March, EU leaders are due to settle the Union's finances for the next seven years. The British government is adamant: the budget rebate won by Mrs Thatcher in 1984 is not up for negotiation.
Vision please
01 February 1999
This year will be crucial both for the development of the European Union and for Britain's position within it. Outside EMU, Britain cannot be one of the leading players. It will have to run to keep up. That means that the government must actively engage in a public debate about Europe's future.
Issue 4 - 1999
29 January 1999
- Give on the rebate to gain elsewhere, Kitty Ussher
- Vision please, Ben Hall
- The end of EADC, Charles Grant, Alexandra Ashbourne
- The myth of tax harmonisation, Kitty Ussher