The Digital Markets Act: Precaution over Innovation

On 15 December 2020, the EU Commission released a proposal for a Regulation on Contestable and Fair Markets in the Digital Sector – referred …

Index of Liberalisation 2020

The Index of Liberalisation unveils which countries rank best in economic liberalisation and provides insight on countries with the infrastructure to rebound quicker following …

Economic Openness and National Security Can Go Hand in Hand

The Trump administration has engaged in an all-out war against Chinese technology and its exports to the US, with the President recently signing off …

Predatory Pricing or Predatory Laws?

The European Commission has fined in July telecommunications multinational Qualcomm with €242 million as it condemns them for selling chipsets “below cost” and therefore …

Corporate Takeovers and National Champions

In April, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the proposed £7Bn merger of supermarket chains ASDA and Sainsbury’s. This decision came shortly …

Cherry picked winners: Why the concept of national champions is flawed

There is a current trend for corporate protectionism growing in the heart of the EU. Both the French and the German government as well …

The EP “Platform-to-business relations” amendments will not make digital markets fairer

On the 26th April 2018, the European Commission adopted a proposal for regulating the relationships between online platforms and their business consumers. The initiative …

Competition in the High Technology Sector

The European Union’s approach to competition law and enforcement demonstrates an attitude in the high-tech and media sector, that – due to its anti-competitive …

Regulating the New Media Economy

The new media economy operates differently from other industries when it comes to regulation. The marginal costs of technological giants mean that their interactions …

State-Enforced Universal Chargers

Picture yourself at a friend’s house. Your Samsung phone buzzes, alerting you to low battery, but you’ve left your charger at home. You ask …

Vestager vs Google

The European Commission decision in the Google Android case illustrates the difference in approach to antitrust issues between the US and EU.  It also …

No, scrapping net neutrality laws won’t kill the internet

The decision by the US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to remove so-called “net neutrality” laws in January produced a flurry of outrage.
The American …

Employment in privatised utilities

On 15 June 2017, the Directorate General for Internal Policies published a report which maps the recent history of privatisation and examines the risk …

The EU must legislate for the future, not regulate the past: The Google fine

After a 7 year investigation, the European Commission’s Margrethe Vestager announced on 27th June a €2.4 billion fine against search engine giant Google. Google …

Platform for debate

Platform businesses bring together distinct but interdependent sets of users in such a way as to improve the welfare of each side of the …

Antitrust and the challenge of regulation for online platforms

Platform businesses bring together distinct but interdependent sets of users in such a way as to improve the welfare of each side of the …

The future of EU Cohesion Policy – boosting innovation instead of handouts

During the latest plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions, ECR President Markku Markkula painted a strikingly positive picture of the EU …

Superindex

According to the latest IBL Super Index, the degree of internal divergence within Eurozone countries keeps increasing. This means that the gap between Eurozone …

The ambiguity of the Commission’s “Harnessing Globalisation” paper

On May 10, 2017, the European Commission published its reflection paper on Harnessing Globalisation. It is the second paper in a series initiated by …

Global Value Chains and EU trade policy

Earlier this year, the EU’s Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström spoke in Brussels about the various challenges facing EU trade policy in 2017. Talking Trump, …

Reforming the Common Agricultural Policy

The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has undergone several waves of reforms over the last few decades. Yet, many market- and trade-distorting practices still …

Some key facts about the EU-China relationship

Since the introduction of pro-market reforms in 1978, China has emerged as a global economic powerhouse and it is today the EU’s second-largest trading …

Let’s make EU agriculture great again: lessons from New Zealand

As the debate on the modernisation and simplification of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) gathers pace, European policymakers are called – once again …

The EU and Norway: a complex relationship

The EEA Agreement was signed in 1992, and entered into force in 1994. Until now, EEA EFTA countries have been able to enjoy the …

Education 4.0

Current schooling systems are badly equipped to deal with rapid technological innovation and changing work patterns such as the sharing economy and the rise …

Against Anti-Dumping Duties: Don’t Fear Cheap Chinese Steel

Following the European Commission’s steel price investigations, the European Union has adopted new anti–dumping (AD) duties on Chinese steel products in January 2017. With …

The importance of an anti-lobbying clause

The composition of civil society at the EU level is largely dictated by which groups the European Commission chooses to fund. Furthermore, citizens have …

The Economics of Industry 4.0

Viewed over the sweep of history, concerns about technological unemployment have always proved overblown. Over the last two-hundred years, technology has created more jobs …

The taxation of high-income earners: An international comparison

The effective marginal tax rate is the total tax on the last euro earned, taking into account income tax as well as social contributions …

The Istituto Bruno Leoni 2016 Index of Liberalisations: a summary

Last month, EPICENTER’s Italian partner, the Istituto Bruno Leoni (IBL), published the 10th edition of its ‘Index of Liberalisations’ report.
 
The study, led …

The past and future of European federalism: Spinelli vs. Hayek

The year 2017 will mark the sixty-year anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. On this occasion, the European project will receive a thorough check-up, …

There’s one international system that President Trump should withdraw from

Following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, the European press has been presenting him as an isolationist. Under President Trump, they claim, …

Balancing the economy: The hand of government or the invisible hand?

The past record of industrial policy in the UK is a catalogue of waste and ineffectiveness. By the end of the 1970s it was …

Android and the challenge of platform management

Google Android is usually described as a mobile operating system – the software that links mobile hardware with applications and thus enables users to …

Google’s ‘monopoly’. It’s the market, baby!

The long-standing saga of the European Union’s battle against Google recently saw the addition of a new chapter. A few days ago an open …

The spectre of another lost decade

On Sunday night, following a shock negative result in a referendum on the constitutional reform he had championed, Matteo Renzi, Italy’s Prime Minister, announced …

Hire Authority

In recent years, smartphone-enabled applications such as Uber have gone a long way to resolve the market imperfections which gave rise to taxi regulation …

The CAP and the struggle for development policy coherence

Since the 1992 MacSharry reform, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has undergone substantial changes. However, despite a noticeable move towards less market- and trade- …

The Effect of Corporate Tax Base Harmonization in the EU

The European Commission (EC) has renewed its proposals on the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) initiative. The initiative refers to two proposals by …

Initiatives Against Posted Workers – Protectionism in Disguise

Posting of workers plays an essential role in the internal market of the European Union. Drawing on the fundamental values of the free movement …

The precautionary principle and the GMO paradox

 
Since the adoption of the 1990 Directive 90/220/EEC the EU has “de facto” imposed a moratorium on cultivating GM crops.
As the European …

Google Shopping: the arguments revisited

The arguments on which the various competition cases against Google are being fought involve core features of economic interaction in multi-sided digital markets. As …

The Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base relaunched

 
The European Commission has rebooted its proposal for a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base. The CCCTB aims to tax multinationals operating in more …

Innovation in Agriculture

The Common Agricultural Policy
Population growth, natural resource scarcity and climate change will challenge agriculture to deliver food security in the coming decades. Innovative …

Innovation in Food Labelling

18 October, 2016
 
Geographical Indications
 
According the European Commission, a Geographical Indication (GI) is “a distinctive sign used to identify a product …

Innovation in regulatory approaches

18 October, 2016
 
The sharing economy and digital platforms
 
An important part of the digital platform revolution is the sharing economy, which …

Innov8 — the hottest conference in Brussels about innovation

Innov8, our conference about innovation in various fields from science & tech to agriculture, took place in Brussels this week and provided a stimulating platform …

Beware the Commission’s rotten Apple ruling

7 September 2016
The European Commission has ordered Ireland to recover €13bn worth of allegedly unpaid taxes from Apple. Reception of the decision has …

The EU and economic freedom: a complicated relationship

3 August 2016
The European Union is all things to all people. To proponents on the right, it is a force for international cooperation, …

Ever freer union? Economic freedom and the EU

3 August 2016
By performing an econometric analysis on the Fraser Institute’s “Economic Freedom of the World: Annual Report 2015,” it is found that …

Radical, but not equal: assessing corporate tax reforms

27 July 2016
A tax on turnover would tax profitable and loss-making firms equally, potentially posing an insurmountable hurdle to struggling firms, and eliminating …

The importance of being credible: Eurozone rules and Italian banks

13 July 2016
 
The conventional account of the Eurozone crisis is one of reckless bankers lending to households and governments far beyond their ability …

The policy implications of the sharing economy

15 June 2016
The emergence of the sharing economy is rapidly changing the way in which goods and services are provided across the EU. …

France: the hottest economy you’ve never heard of

08 June 2016
France badly needs economic reform. But we shouldn’t let negative news headlines blind us to the fact that the French economy …

Bans on homesharing won’t redress Berlin’s housing shortage

4 May 2016
A law banning short-term apartment rentals just came into force in Berlin. The measure, which was passed in 2014 but only …

Bans on home-sharing won’t redress Berlin’s housing shortage

Diego Zuluaga // 04.05.2016
A law banning short-term apartment rentals just came into force in Berlin. The measure, which was passed in 2014 but …

Is Android harming competition in mobile software?

21 April 2016
In sum, the Commission’s Statement of Objections concerning Android is not justified in light of the existing arrangements between Google and …

The Commission’s Android probe draws the wrong lessons from the past

Diego Zuluaga // 18.04.2016
It is expected that the EU’s competition authorities will this week issue Google with a formal charge sheet, known as …

Prospects for agricultural reform in the EU

6 April 2016
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is today the EU’s most expensive policy, taking up almost half of the annual budget. It …

Regulatory approaches to the sharing economy

18 February 2016
The sharing economy is based on reductions in transaction costs which enable exchanges that were previously not possible. Sharing economy firms …

How Italy is doing, without the romance

Giacomo Lev Mannheimer // 03.02.2016
The founder of Public Choice theory, Nobel Laureate James Buchanan, called it “politics without romance”. Buchanan wanted to show …

EU Antitrust vs. Google

Istituto Bruno Leoni, 20 January 2016
The extent of market power enjoyed by Google is a debatable question. The antitrust literature emphasises the importance …

Commissioner Vestager misunderstands where the value of data lies

Diego Zuluaga // 18.01.2016
EurActiv reports this morning on a speech delivered by Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager at the DLD conference in Munich on …

Why regulating online platforms is a bad idea

Diego Zuluaga // 21.12.2015
Today, EPICENTER releases its latest briefing, on the economics and regulation of online platforms. The prospect of regulatory intervention into …

Understanding online platforms

21 December 2015
While platforms can operate online and offline, the internet has created new opportunities to lower transaction costs by linking users. Recently, …

Index of Liberalizations 2015

Istituto Bruno Leoni, November 2015
The Istituto Bruno Leoni’s Index of Liberalizations aims at identifying both the barriers to competition and the best practices …

Shadow Economies in the Baltic Sea Region 2015

Lithuanian Free Market Institute, November 2015
A new report by the Lithuanian Free Market Institute looks at perceptions and prevalence of the shadow economy …

Taxation and its negative impact on business investment activities

Gabriel A. Giménez Roche, November 2015
In its latest study, the Institut économique Molinari shows that corporate taxation continues to slow down economic recovery …

Online platforms and the bad economics of politicians

EurActiv reports that the Italian Parliament is scheduled to vote on legislation which would regulate online platforms. The measure has been proposed by a …

Some cautionary notes on platform regulation

Diego Zuluaga // 03.11.2015
In a post last week, I welcomed Competition and Markets Authority chief Alex Chisholm’s plea for regulatory prudence on online …

A breath of fresh air in digital competition policy

Diego Zuluaga // 27.10.2015
Let’s say it loud and clear: There is hope for EU competition policy! After months of negative headlines and high-profile …

Little to look forward to in EU corporation tax

Diego Zuluaga // 22.10.2015
We found out yesterday that, according to the European Commission, the tax rulings entered into by Starbucks and Fiat with …

Net freedom instead of net neutrality for a successful digital market

 
Cécile Philippe, June 2015
 
The Digital Single Market (DSM) strategy for Europe includes several initiatives to be delivered by the end of …

Tax rulings and state aid: a treacherous mix

 
30 April 2015
 
The benchmark for assessing the legitimacy of any tax measure is the overall tax regime of the country in …

Competition policy in the digital economy

 
17 April 2015
 
In light of recent cases in the digital sector, competition policy needs to change. Market share figures tend to …

Updating the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base

16 December 2014
 
The Commission should work to preserve the highest degree of tax competition between Member States. The CCCTB poses the danger …

The Sphynx and the Chimera: Antitrust proceedings in the European Union

Serena Sileoni, December 2014
 
Antitrust policy is an important part of European Union jurisprudence, yet its control is entrusted to procedures which do …

"Unbundling" search engines

26 November 2014
 
Given the lack of evidence of anti-competitive behaviour in the search engine market, action by the European Commission is unjustified. …

“Unbundling” search engines

26 November 2014
 
Given the lack of evidence of anti-competitive behaviour in the search engine market, action by the European Commission is unjustified. …

Against government planning over the airwaves: a free-market approach to spectrum management

 
Massimiliano Trovato, Istituto Bruno Leoni, October 2014
 
The development of television and mobile communications in the coming years will depend on the …

Promoting competition and energy security in Europe

Žilvinas Šilėnas, October 2014
 
The success of the internal market for products can and should be repeated for energy. Natural barriers to market …

Taxation and the Digital Economy

Massimiliano Trovato, October 2014
 
It is widely acknowledged that Europe lags behind when it comes to digital entrepreneurship. The largest players in the …

Advertising in a Free Society

 
Ralph Harris and Arthur Seldon, September 2014
 
In practice it is impossible to distinguish between advertising that is intended to be persuasive …

The Green Bubble: How good intentions led to giddy speculation

 
Per Wimmer, Timbro, June 2014
 
We need clean energy if we are to meet the world’s growing energy needs while avoiding an …

Position on expanding the Interchange Fee regulation to commercial payment cards

 
Lithuanian Free Market Institute, June 2014
 
The measures proposed by the European Commission are not suitable for achieving a single market in …

Facts and analysis: The small loans market and regulation in Lithuania

 
Lithuanian Free Market Institute, May 2014
 
The small loans market (quick credit, pay-day loans) often gets a lot of criticism in the …

Economic freedom in the EU: mediocre today – world leader tomorrow?

 
Gustav Blix, Timbro, May 2014
 
Five years since the outbreak of the most severe economic crisis of our time, there is widespread …

The energy bubble

 
Julio Pomes, Civismo, March 2014
 
It is regrettable that, as the United States achieves energy independence, Europe still lacks a strategy to …

Enemies of Free Trade

 
Francisco Cabrillo, Civismo, February 2014
 
The combination of ideological prejudice and direct economic interests may yet do a great deal of harm …

From nationalisation to state control – the return of centralised energy planning

 
Colin Robinson, IEA, December 2013
 
For a short period, around the turn of the millennium, the UK energy market was highly competitive, …

Liberal voices. A response to the EC public consultation on sustainable buildings

 
Lithuanian Free Market Institute, November 2013
 
The European Commission wants to gather views and additional information on the possible introduction of EU …

Liberal voices. A response to the EC public consultation on the 2030 framework for climate and energy policies

 
Lithuanian Free Market Institute, November 2013
 
The EU has a clear framework to steer its energy and climate policies up to 2020.The …

Facts and analysis: An integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments

 
Lithuanian Free Market Institute, September 2013
 
Regulation, specifically Interchange Fee caps on credit and debit cards, would be especially harmful to consumers …

The Dream of Alexandria: The dilemma of digital distribution

 
Per Strömbäck, Timbro, August 2013
 
Digitalisation carries a promise of growth, jobs and culture to all, but ironically, it is by and …

The Shadow Economy

 
Friedrich Schneider and Colin Williams, IEA, June 2013
 
Measurement of the shadow economy is notoriously difficult as it requires estimation of economic …

Google and antitrust – no evidence found

 
Massimiliano Trovato, Istituto Bruno Leoni, January 2013
 
The decision by the American antitrust regulator to acquit Google from charges of manipulating its …

The energy revolution is already here… But it did not come from where it was expected

 
Civismo, March 2012
 
Hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’, has revolutionised world energy markets, making the United States into a net exporter of natural …

Fair Trade without the Froth

 
Sushil Mohan, IEA, November 2010
 
This important study, whilst not doubting the position that Fair Trade is part and parcel of a …

Central banking, monetary stability and financial stability

 
Geoffrey Wood, et al., IEA, September 2009
 
How can future economic crises be avoided? A special issue of IEA journal Economic Affairs …

The ‘Google affair’ and the future of the internet

 
Massimiliano Trovato, Istituto Bruno Leoni, September 2009
 
Can the supply of material on the web be regulated? How to take action on …