Research

The EU budget: An agenda for reform

The EU budget: An agenda for reform

John Peet, Kitty Ussher
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.
Russia in Europe

Russia in Europe

Rodric Braithwaite
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

Europe's uncertain identity

Gilles Andréani
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.
Give on the rebate to gain elsewhere

Give on the rebate to gain elsewhere

Kitty Ussher
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

Vision please

Ben Hall
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.
The end of EADC

The end of EADC

Charles Grant, Alexandra Ashbourne
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

The myth of tax harmonisation

Kitty Ussher
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.
Bulletin issue 4

Issue 4 - 1999

Charles Grant, Kitty Ussher, Ben Hall, Alexandra Ashbourne, Kitty Ussher
29 January 1999
What next for Russia?

What next for Russia?

Rodric Braithwaite
01 December 1998
Russia is a European country, albeit one with many non-European interests. Russia and the other countries of Europe share a common concern for the stability and prosperity of the continent.
A new model of European integration?

A new model of European integration?

David Harrison
01 December 1998
Ben Hall writes interestingly about the distinction between looser, inter-governmental forms of EU co-operation and actual EU legislation ('detailed, centrally-set rules') in CER Bulletin Issue 2. I agree such a distinction is helpful. But is it in fact new?
Since at least 1964 (and the landmark case of Costa v ENEL)...
Reshaping Europe's defence

Reshaping Europe's defence

01 December 1998
All across Europe, politicians and diplomats are scratching their heads and asking the same question: when was the last time that Britain came up with such a constructive initiative on the future of the European Union?
EMU must go further

EMU must go further

Kitty Ussher
01 December 1998
The EMU project is set for success in the short term, despite the financial crisis, but in the long run its prosperity depends on greater co-ordination between member states to undertake essential structural reform.
Bulletin issue 9

Issue 9 - 1999

Charles Grant, Tim Garden, John Roper, Charles Leadbeater
27 November 1998
Bulletin issue 3

Issue 3 - 1998

Charles Grant, Rodric Braithwaite, Ben Hall, Kitty Ussher
27 November 1998
Can Britain lead in Europe?

Can Britain lead in Europe?

02 October 1998
Britain should join France and Germany in forming a triple alliance to lead the European Union, suggested Gerhard Schröder, the German Social Democrats' candidate for Chancellor, in April 1998.
Transparency is no panacea?

Transparency is no panacea?

Maurice Fraser
01 October 1998
We all want openness and accountability, but let's be clear that they don't guarantee the most effective method of Government. Several of the objectives we set for the European Union - an efficient single market; a single currency which commands public confidence and proves a reliable store of value; a...
Will EMU lead to political union?

Will EMU lead to political union?

Ed Smith
01 October 1998
In the recent history of Europe, from Jean Monnet's plan for a European Coal and Steel Community in1950 to today's European Union, one pattern seems clear: where economic integration leads, political integration will eventually follow.
EMU, it is argued, will continue this trend-except on a far bigger scale. The euro will...
A new model of European integration

A new model of European integration

Ben Hall
01 October 1998
Europe may be moving towards a new kind of integration, based on inter-governmental co-operation, peer-group pressure and bench-marking.
Elect the Commission

Elect the Commission

01 October 1998
The European Commission enjoys little legitimacy in the eyes of most Europeans. So long as it is run by appointed politicians it will continue to be seen as a remote and overbearing bureaucracy.
Bulletin issue 2

Issue 2 - 1998

Charles Grant, Ben Hall, Maurice Fraser, Ed Smith
25 September 1998