March 19, 2015
The Eurozone crisis has descended into farce – with Greece dangerously close to running out of money, Europe is engaged in a heated debate about whether or not Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis gave Germany the middle finger back in 2013. Open Europe investigates…
The post The #Varoufake row: A new low for the Eurozone crisis appeared first on Open Europe.
Posted by Nina Schick
March 18, 2015
George Osborne has grounds to be cheerful as the Office of Budget Responsibility forecasts the UK’s EU budget contribution will fall in 2016/17, around the time of the potential referendum. However, Open Europe’s Pawel Swidlicki argues that rather than rely on uncertain assumptions, the UK should still push for radical reform of EU spending.
The post Is the UK’s EU budget contribution finally coming down? appeared first on Open Europe.
Posted by Pawel Swidlicki
Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem yesterday raised the prospect of potential capital controls in Greece. But how likely is such a scenario and what could bring it about? Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel investigates.
The post How likely are capital controls in Greece? appeared first on Open Europe.
Posted by Raoul Ruparel
EU red tape imposes a significant cost on the UK economy – according to the Government’s own assessments, this now stands at £33.3bn. However, as Open Europe’s Pawel Swidlicki demonstrates, leaving the EU would not necessarily reduce this burden; specifically, if the UK were to adopt the ‘Norway model’ post Brexit the majority of the costs would remain locked in place.
The post What’s the best way of cutting the £33.3bn burden of EU red tape? appeared first on Open Europe.
Posted by Pawel Swidlicki
March 9, 2015
Yesterday’s threat by Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos of the Independent Greeks to ‘flood’ Europe with refugees including potential IS members has arguably brought German-Greek relations to a new low.
The post A new low for German-Greek relations? appeared first on Open Europe.
Posted by Pawel Swidlicki
In the latest instalment in our Brexit series, Open Europe concludes that securing EU market access post-Brexit would be far easier for the UK’s goods exporters than for sectors such as financial services
The post How would the UK’s key export sectors fare under Brexit? appeared first on Open Europe.
Posted by Stephen Booth
In light of the extraordinary rise of Podemos, it has been clear for some time that the next Spanish general elections will put an end to the country’s traditional two-party system. But the recent poll surge of another contender, the centrist party Ciudadanos, suggests Spain may be on course to become a four-party country. Our Southern Europe expert Vincenzo Scarpetta introduces Ciudadanos and looks at the potential implications of its ‘irruption’ on the Spanish national political scene.
The post Spain: A four-party country? appeared first on Open Europe.
Posted by Vincenzo Scarpetta
March 6, 2015
Different context, different countries, asking for different things. But – irrespective of who’s right and wrong – in terms of negotiating change in Europe off the back of a democratic vote, here are eight lessons for David Cameron from Syriza’s, so far, rather poor performance.
The post Eight lessons for David Cameron from Syriza appeared first on Open Europe.
Posted by Mats Persson
Sweeping to office after their landslide victory in January’s Greek elections, Syriza has promised to shakeup how the system operates in a major way. Former Dutch MEP Derk Jan Eppink warns, however, that change is hard to come by, examining Greek attempts to create a land registry – ongoing since 1994, and for which it has received millions in EU funding.
The post Reforming Greece easier said than done: The never-ending case of the land registry appeared first on Open Europe.
Posted by Pieter Cleppe
Following yesterday’s meeting in Brussels between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the German press reports that relations between the two are increasingly fraught due to the Commission’s economic policy. We warned as much could happen.
The post Berlin’s Juncker hangover is getting worse appeared first on Open Europe.
Posted by Nina Schick
Open Europe is an independent think tank contributing bold new thinking to the debate about the direction of the EU.
