Publications
The impact of the environment and climate on health
25 April 2012
In this Commentary entitled 'Ignorance ain't bliss: it's time to recognise the impact of the environment and climate on health', Annika Ahtonen argues that Europe must take more seriously the impact of the environment and climate change on health, and do more to reduce and prepare for unwanted health consequences. By promoting healthier environments, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to current and potential impacts of climate change, Europe can also tackle the economic and ecological crises it is facing.
Comitology reform: setting the record straight
19 April 2012
In this Commentary – initially published by the European Voice on 12 April 2012 – Corina Stratulat and Elisa Molino argue that the Lisbon Treaty has made comitology more transparent, streamlined and democratically legitimate. However, the system will always be complex and involve trade-offs – such as legitimacy vs. efficiency, simplicity vs. legitimacy, or politicisation vs. efficiency. For this reason, the authors maintain that calls for future reform will have to take stock of the inherent limits and intended purposes of the comitology system.
The Case for Renewing Transatlantic Capitalism
22 March 2012
This report sets out a range of recommendations to further deepen the economic relationship between the EU and the US. The report argues that only through joint effortS can Europe and the United States reinvigorate economic growth and job creation, overcome the shortcomings of transatlantic capitalism and Ensure that their economic model prevails in the global economy. The report is the outcome of a project on New Atlantic Capitalism and is based on the discussions of a High-Level Group convened by demosEUROPA - Centre for European Strategy (Warsaw), the German Marshall Fund of the United States (Washington, D.C.), Notre Europe (Paris), Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (Berlin) and the European Policy Centre (Brussels), with the EPC represented by Fabian Zuleeg.
Opportunity knocks: can the EU help Albania to help itself?
22 March 2012
On 21 March, the inter-ministerial Committee on European Integration in the Albanian government has adopted – with the active support of the parliament – an Action Plan which specifies the measures, timeframes, resources, and responsible national institutions that will be used to address the European Commission’s 12 key priorities to move the country closer to achieving ‘candidate status’. In this Policy Brief, Corina Stratulat and Gjergji Vurmo argue that while this is a welcome and promising development for a country that has long been struggling with political deadlock, the window of opportunity to tap into this progress is narrow in view of the upcoming general elections in June 2013. The authors contend that Albania should harness constructively this opportunity in order to deliver on the bulk of the reform agenda, but also stress the importance of Albanian civil society finding its voice and making it count in the policies and actions pursued by leaders. Moreover, they maintain that the EU should help Albania to help itself by means of more pre-emptive and context-sensitive policies.
The European Economic Area revisited
19 March 2012
The European Economic Area (EEA) is the EU’s closest relationship with neighbouring countries. Membership of the EEA gives members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein – access to the Single Market by transposing EU laws into their own legal order. Meanwhile Switzerland, EFTA’s other member, has bilateral agreements with the EU to similar effect.
Although these arrangements have worked well for nearly 20 years, questions are now being asked. Access to the Single Market for non-EU members comes at a price, both budgetary and in terms of a ‘democratic deficit’. In Norway, a recent report has triggered public debate about the EEA for the first time. Iceland is negotiating for full membership of the EU. The agreements with Switzerland have encountered difficulties. So the EU’s Council of Ministers plans to review the EEA and related agreements by the end of this year. Meanwhile, those in Britain who want the UK to leave the EU consider the EEA as a model.
Healthy and active ageing: turning the 'silver' economy into gold
12 March 2012
Demographic change poses enormous societal and economic challenges for Europe. As a consequence the proportion of working-age people is expected to decline dramatically and age-related expenditure on health care and pensions to increase substantially.
In this Policy Brief Annika Ahtonen stresses that closing our eyes will not make the demographic challenge disappear; nor will it transform overstretched public budgets into sustainable sources of funding for ageing societies. It is in Europe's interests to face up to the challenge and turn it into a narrative for growth, success and social cohesion.
She argues that if Europe is to realise the enormous potential of its ageing population, the EU must use the instruments at its disposal to encourage active and healthy ageing across society. This requires promoting health and preventing diseases, creating age-friendly environments, providing people with incentives to continue working longer, and deploying innovative products, services and processes. It will also require bringing about an attitude change among EU citizens, be they carers, patients, consumers, workers or employers, and involving them in the transition.
The perils of complacency - the results of an unspectacular summit - Post-Summit Analysis
5 March 2012
The 1-2 March European Council was an unspectacular summit during which EU leaders did their best to demonstrate that the European Union is slowly but surely moving out of the euro debt crisis. This analysis by Janis A. Emmanouilidis, however, warns that the situation remains fragile and that the political dangers and longer-term effects of the crisis will haunt the EU and its members for some time – even though the crisis seems to be moving into a less critical phase due to the massive intervention of the European Central Bank.
The Digital Single Market 2.0
27 February 2012
In this contribution to the European High-Level Conference ‘A Single Digital Market by 2015 – A driver for economic growth and jobs’, Hans Martens and Fabian Zuleeg argue that creating a truly integrated Digital Single Market should be a priority for the EU. It would bring significant economic growth and consumer benefits, improve productivity and competitiveness. It would also encourage high-growth companies and help to solve some of Europe’s biggest societal issues, such as inefficient labour markets, environmental problems and strained public sectors.
Realising the Digital Single Market will require decisive action: creating a trusted online environment, delivering a common framework for the fuel of the digital economy (knowledge and data), and creating the foundations of the digital economy: a digital mindset, e-mobility and e-infrastructure. This will require an ambitious, common and often harmonised European approach, which is politically challenging – but Europe cannot afford to lose momentum.
Analysis of the simplification measures mentioned in both the proposal for a EU Financial Regulation and the cohesion policy legislative package
16 February 2012
This paper was produced by Claire Dhéret, Fabian Zuleeg and Serban Chiorean-Sime.
On 22 December 2010, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on the financial rules applicable to the annual budget of the Union (COM (2010) 815 Final), also known as the EU Financial Regulation.
This legislative proposal will have a major impact on local and regional authorities due to the simplification measures it includes, particularly regarding the use of EU Structural Funds.
Furthermore, on 6 October 2011, the European Commission adopted a legislative package for cohesion policy during the period 2014-2020, which contains a set of additional simplification measures.
This file note seeks to assess whether the Commission’s proposed measures match the needs expressed by Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs) and whether they will contribute to more efficient and effective spending.
The first part of this file note describes the state of play of inter-institutional negotiations on the EU Financial Regulation, provides a summary of the main simplification measures, and compares the measures proposed in the Financial Regulation to those proposed in the cohesion policy legislative package.
The analysis of inter-institutional negotiations on COM (2010) 815 (final) shows that the changes negotiated between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union are broadly supportive of the position expressed by the Committee of the Regions (CoR).
The overview of the simplification measures draws attention to the fact that some ‘simplification measures’ do not necessarily facilitate the use of EU Funds by beneficiaries. Overall, the comparison between the measures proposed by the Commission indicates that, generally, both proposals are coherent with each other, although the level of detail can vary depending on the specific topic.
The second part of this file note examines the degree to which the simplification measures respond to the needs expressed by LRAs, evaluates their impact on the use of EU Funds, and points out a number of measures that will require changes exclusively for LRAs and national governments.
Some simplification measures seem to go in the right direction and aim to, for instance, reduce the administrative burden on both beneficiaries and managing authorities, which has been called for repeatedly by LRAs and the CoR.
However, the overall impact of the proposed measures might not be clear-cut with regard to simultaneously achieving both objectives, i.e. simplified use of Funds by LRAs and more efficient and effective spending.
Last but not least, it might take time to see the positive effects of simplification.
This paper was written under a Framework Contract with the Committee of the Regions on the EU budget.
To sign or not to sign? That's the EU-Ukraine question
13 February 2012
2012 is expected to be an important yet difficult year for Ukraine, particularly as regards the country’s relationship with the EU. Ukraine is the most important country in the EU’s Eastern Partnership. The EU describes the country as a ‘priority partner’, and they both cooperate in numerous different sectors including energy, transport and mobility. Trade between the two partners in 2011 was worth some 500 billion euros. However, relations between the two soured in 2011, primarily as a consequence of the trial and subsequent imprisonment of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Over the last four years Ukraine and the EU have been negotiating an Association Agreement (AA), including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA). The EU has seemingly now linked the signature and ratification of the AA to improving democratic standards in the country. Parliamentary elections, scheduled for 28 October, will be a crucial litmus test in this respect. In this Commentary, Amanda Paul looks at the future prospects for Ukraine-EU relations, lays out what could be expected over the coming months, looks at possible scenarios for the elections and argues why it is important for the EU to sign the AA with Ukraine.