Thema Europa

Die verlorene Unabhängigkeit

Making the Euro Area Fit for the Future

The crisis in the European currency area is not yet over. Although the situation in the financial markets is currently relatively calm, the economic crisis appears to be bottoming out in most countries. Nevertheless, there are still fundamental design flaws in the Monetary Union. If these are not fully addressed, it will only be a matter of time before a new crisis hits, and a partial or complete breakup ...

Stabilizing the European Monetary Union: High Time for More Reforms! Seven Questions to Ferdinand Fichtner

The European Central Bank as Lender of Last Resort

In the wake of the recent European debt crisis, the European Central Bank (ECB) has grown significantly in importance. As the crisis worsened, the ECB needed to take measures that went far beyond standard monetary policy operations - particularly with respect to its function as lender of last resort. It provided the banking sector with almost unlimited liquidity and, in addition, purchased government ...

Banking Union and Bank Regulation: Banking Sector Stability in Europe

Despite the most recent period of calm on the financial markets, the long-term resilience of the European financial system is not yet assured, even several years after the financial crisis began. However, the stability of the financial system playsa crucial role for real economic development and consequently for growth and prosperity. The financial crisis has shown that stricter regulation is required ...

GDP-Linked Loans for Greece

Greece is standing at a crossroads. The need for a third rescue package has now become a critical issue. The Greek government is calling for another de facto-public debt restructuring. An alternative option presented here would be to convert existing GLF loans into GDP-linked loans. Interest payments would then be linked to the development of Greece’s GDP. First, this would reduce the likelihood of ...

The New Growth Debate

The developed economies of Europe and the United States are slowly recovering from the worldwide financial crisis and the debt crisis in the euro area. How will the economic situation of these countries evolve in the future? Will the developed economies experience high rates of productivity and economic growth or will they have to face stagnation for a long period of time? Various famous economists ...

Beyond the "Grid-Lock" in Electricity Interconnectors: The Case of Germany and Poland

The common European electricity market requires both market integration and transmission grid expansion, including trans-border interconnectors. Although the benefits of increased interconnectivity are widely acknowledged, expansion of interconnectors is often very slow. This paper gathers insights on the reasons behind this “grid-lock” drawing on the study of the German-Polish border. Although two ...

European Natural Gas Supply Secure Despite Political Crises

Natural gas is a significant contributor to European energy supply. Hence, the political crisis between Russia and Ukraine increases fears of the consequences of Russia suspending natural gas supplies to Ukraine and the European Union. The last time this had occurred was in the winter of 2009 when Russia and Ukraine disputed about the price of natural gas and transit costs. However, the European Union ...

Europe Needs to Further Diversify Its Gas Imports: Seven Questions to Claudia Kemfert