Epicenter Archives
13 September 2023
In politics and policymaking, controversies and conflicts arise often. The term denotes situations where even knowledgeable, rational, and sincere actors struggle to resolve an …
26 July 2023
This briefing summarises a recent analysis by the CEPOS, which investigates how Denmark can become one of the economically freest countries in the world …
15 June 2023
This paper exemines the demographic projections for Slovakia up to 2030, focusing on the potential shortages of healthcare professionals. By considering factors such as …
3 May 2023
Until recently, the telecommunications market was held up as an EU success story, with Europeans emerging as the big winners. European consumers were indeed …
15 March 2023
Work is underway at the European Union to develop a third Tobacco Products Directive. This briefing outlines a number of simple measures that could …
7 December 2022
The briefing reviews the newly passed directive on adequate minimum wages in the EU and investigates its potential negative impacts on traditional collective bargaining …
6 October 2022
As energy prices soar this year, policymakers in the European Union and the United Kingdom have proposed various measures aimed at limiting energy inflation. …
6 July 2022
Granting candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova in June 2022 was an important and worthwhile step taken by the EU. Yet, as currently devised, …
16 June 2022
The EU and its member states are increasingly adopting a mission-oriented approach to tackling today’s pressing challenges. This line of thinking has been inspired …
15 June 2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced the European Union and its member states to substantially revise their energy policy in order to meet short-term …
1 June 2022
The European Commission is asking for feedback on its Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). The call for evidence closes on 17 June 2022 and is …
4 May 2022
The European Union is debating a directive that would place a minimum effective corporate income tax (CIT) of 15 percent on large-scale company groups. …
9 March 2022
The European Parliament, the European Commission, and the European Council continue negotiations on the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a proposed regulation aimed at curtailing …
2 February 2022
Preventing gold-plating is once again reinstated by the EU as an important measure to reduce barriers to the single market. Gold-plating is not in …
24 November 2021
Production taxes in France have long been a contentious issue closely linked to employment and wage growth. France currently sets one of the highest …
21 October 2021
The European Union often concludes international trade agreements, which contain shared competences with the Member States (the so-called mixed competences agreements), thus they require …
19 October 2021
The latest International Tax Competitiveness Index, published by the Tax Foundation, illustrates the wide variation in the quality of tax systems across Europe. Many …
13 October 2021
The proposed EU Digital Services Act (DSA) aims to protect users of digital services, but unfortunately it also creates serious new risks for both …
11 August 2021
The European Commission seeks to strengthen the principle of equal pay for work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and …
30 June 2021
The European Union has targeted large online platforms as potential threats to competition in the digital world. According to the Commission’s Vice President and …
23 July 2021
The EU Commission proposed the new Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) in December 2020. Collectively, these proposals are an important …
9 June 2021
On 15 December 2020, the EU Commission released a proposal for a Regulation on Contestable and Fair Markets in the Digital Sector – referred …
18 May 2021
Debt mutualisation across EU Member States has recently been brought to the forefront of discussion. Firstly, because of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) balance-sheet operations, …
18 March 2021
Surveys suggest that public understanding of the risks and benefits of e-cigarettes has become divorced from the scientific evidence. A Eurobarometer survey conducted in …
3 March 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted widespread calls for stricter regulation of price gouging across the European Union. Whilst the calls come from a good …
4 February 2021
A report published by the European Commission on 3 February 2021 proposes a range of nanny state interventions intended to reduce the consumption of …
2 December 2020
This year Credit Day for the European Union falls on the 17th of December. This is the day which, on average, EU member states …
21 October 2020
In September 2020, the EU’s Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) published a preliminary opinion (SCHEER 2020) on electronic cigarettes which …
7 October 2020
The EU Commission launched a public consultation on the adoption of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), i.e. a fee to be levied on …
18 June 2020
Thus far, three recovery programs have been proposed in response to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The first recovery program was …
27 May 2020
In February the Commission published the White Paper On Artificial Intelligence – A European approach to excellence and trust. It includes some interesting proposals …
11 December 2019
The new European Green Deal plans to make the EU carbon neutral by 2050 while opening up new possibilities for development and employment. The …
20 November 2019
16th December marks Credit Day across Europe. This is the day that, on average, EU Member State governments have exhausted their annual tax income …
6 November 2019
Libra, the new private digital money system sponsored by Facebook and a consortium of other firms, was announced on 18th June 2019, and officially …
11 September 2019
The Epicenter Nanny State Index is a league table of the best and worst places in the European Union to eat, drink, smoke and …
21 August 2019
The new EU-Mercosur Agreement only superficially rejects protectionism. As much as it liberalises trade, it also protects European defensive interests and extends the EU’s …
8 March 2019
The Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market (the “Directive”) is back. The issues with the Directive were described in our September 2018 briefing …
30 January 2019
The Employment Flexibility Index of LFMI quantifies a great divergence in employment regulations between EU countries. Of the 41 countries included in the index …
17 January 2019
On 20th December, the European Commission launched a (relatively brief) consultation on moving from unanimity to qualified majority voting (QMV) in the Council on …
13 December 2018
The Commission’s decision to fine Google for unfair practice was based on a misunderstanding of the Android ecosystem and a mistaken definition of the …
5 December 2018
13 December marks Credit Day across the European Union. This is the day when, on average, European countries’ central governments exhaust their annual tax …
24 October 2018
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 …
17 October 2018
The new media economy operates differently from other industries when it comes to regulation. The marginal costs of technological giants mean that their interactions …
26 September 2018
The Commission put forward a legislative proposal in September 2016 for a new directive on copyright in the digital single market. The aim is …
5 September 2018
The European Commission has proposed a tax on revenues raised from certain digital activities. However, this is essentially a political gesture with only weak …
4 July 2018
Instead of comprehensive re-examination of the Energy Taxation Directive, the European Commission is examining whether ETD should continue the exemptions and lower tariffs for …
7 June 2018
The UK might appear to have the most to lose from Brexit if City firms find it harder to sell financial services into the …
16 May 2018
On average, the economic costs of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) now far exceed those of tariffs, which have generally been falling as new free trade …
24 January 2018
The ECB seeks to increase trading in non-performing loans by reducing the pricing gap between prospective investors and banks. For this to happen, there …
17 January 2018
Populism is on the rise, especially in Europe. Determining the causes is of crucial political importance. Some claim that “neoliberal” policies such as deregulation …
10 January 2018
As a general rule, local governments are exempt from VAT in the EU. Thus, VAT is not payable on the tax-financed consumption of municipalities …
12 December 2017
The recent Employment Flexibility Index uses data provided by the World Bank’s Doing Business Labour Market Regulation Questionnaire to compare labour market regulations. The …
4 December 2017
The 2017 IBL Index of Liberalisations aims to shed light on the degree of openness of the 28 Member States by examining ten different …
6 December marks Credit Day across the European Union. This is the day when, on average, European countries’ central administrations will exhaust their annual …
30 November 2017
In the wake of the Ecofin meeting that took place in Tallinn on September 15-16, the European Commission published a communication on “A Fair …
21 November 2017
Food and soft drinks manufacturers are continually reformulating their products and bringing new products to market in response to consumer demand. In recent years, …
The ECJ ruled that Italy had been wrong to ban the cultivation of an EU-approved genetically modified maize. This was a big victory for …
Recent years have seen a reduced supply of capital to domestic businesses by banks due to increased capital requirements and compliance costs. Market finance …
Widespread automation is often named as the greatest long-term threat to human employment. But Europe’s immediate job market problems are of a different sort: …
11 October 2017
Posted workers are temporarily sent from one member state to another, usually for projects of short duration. There were 1.1. million posted workers in …
13 September 2017
The ongoing Basel IV discussions seek to impose additional capital requirement on banks, a move that would disproportionately affect those in Europe. Whilst the …
8 September 2017
On 15 June 2017, the Directorate General for Internal Policies published a report which maps the recent history of privatisation and examines the risk …
23 August 2017
On 28 September 2017, the European Parliament Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL) will vote on an initiative by Spanish MEP Javi Lopez (S&D) …
2 August 2017
According to the Commission, the new CCCTB initiative is the most ambitious corporate tax reform ever proposed in the EU. However, despite the most …
27 July 2017
First published in 2010, the 2017 Tax Burden study by the Institut économique Molinari measures the tax and social security burdens on individual employees …
11 July 2017
The 2017 TIMBRO Authoritarian Populism Index is the only Europe-wide comprehensive study that aims to shed light on whether populism poses a long-term threat …
5 July 2017
The European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs are currently promoting a new legislative proposal …
7 June 2017
Platform businesses bring together distinct but interdependent sets of users in such a way as to improve the welfare of each side of the …
17 May 2017
As of 2017, the EU has 44 trade agreements in place with more than 60 countries across the globe. In addition, five accords have …
10 May 2017
The EPICENTER Nanny State Index is the only comprehensive league table of lifestyle regulations. The latest data suggest that the EU is becoming a …
2 May 2017
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 …
26 April 2017
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 …
21 April 2017
The EEA Agreement was signed in 1992, and entered into force in 1994. Until now, EEA EFTA countries have been able to enjoy the …
12 April 2017
Current schooling systems are badly equipped to deal with rapid technological innovation and changing work patterns such as the sharing economy and the rise …
5 April 2017
Following the latest European Commission proposal on wholesale roaming surcharges across the EEA, on 5 and 6 April, MEPs will debate on and vote …
29 March 2017
Recent EC proposals fail to explain how alternative energy technologies such as fracking, a deeper energy trade relationship with Europe’s biggest trading partner – …
22 March 2017
Even though the free movement of capital has been a legislative reality in the European Union since the Treaty of Rome, the markets for …
16 March 2017
The composition of civil society at the EU level is largely dictated by which groups the European Commission chooses to fund. Furthermore, citizens have …
15 March 2017
Labour market mobility in the European Union is increasing, but it remains too low to provide sufficient internal socio-economic adjustments. This situation reflects non-policy …
22 February 2017
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 …
10 February 2017
The effective marginal tax rate is the total tax on the last euro earned, taking into account income tax as well as social contributions …
1 February 2017
The achievement of efficient and secure energy supply and a clean environment do not have to be conflicting objectives. However, meeting both goals will …
11 January 2017
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, …
14 December 2016
Google Android is usually described as a mobile operating system – the software that links mobile hardware with applications and thus enables users to …
30 November 2016
November 30 marks Credit Day across the European Union. Credit Day is the day when member states’ central administrations exhaust their annual tax revenues …
28 November 2016
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is currently in a negotiatory limbo. Even though the European Commission has estimated such an agreement would …
9 November 2016
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 …
18 October, 2016
The Common Agricultural Policy Population growth, natural resource scarcity and climate change will challenge agriculture to deliver food security in the coming decades. Innovative …
18 October, 2016 Permissionless Innovation Scientific research has made important breakthroughs in harm reduction in recent years. In the field of alcohol consumption, …
18 October, 2016 Geographical Indications According the European Commission, a Geographical Indication (GI) is “a distinctive sign used to identify a product …
18 October, 2016 The sharing economy and digital platforms An important part of the digital platform revolution is the sharing economy, which …
7 September 2016 The European Commission has ordered Ireland to recover €13bn worth of allegedly unpaid taxes from Apple. Reception of the decision has …
3 August 2016 The European Union is all things to all people. To proponents on the right, it is a force for international cooperation, …
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 …
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 …
13 July 2016 The conventional account of the Eurozone crisis is one of reckless bankers lending to households and governments far beyond their ability …
06 July 2016 There are efforts at national, EU and international levels to put forward significant reforms to the corporate tax system. The 20th century …
29 June 2016 Can a country do better after leaving the EU? Indeed, we can perform an even more granular analysis and seek to …
16.06.2016 The Authoritarian Populist Index (TAP) includes both right- and left-wing populist parties and covers all national elections in 33 European countries, from 1980 …
15 June 2016 The emergence of the sharing economy is rapidly changing the way in which goods and services are provided across the EU. …
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 …
01 June 2016 While entrepreneurship and innovation are flourishing across much of the EU’s private sector, public policy has lagged behind most recent technological …
25 May 2016 The new Tobacco Products Directive (TPD2) dramatically tightens regulation of cigarettes, rolling tobacco and e-cigarettes. Yet, it is unclear that it …
18 May 2016 As growth rates in the Eurozone gather steam, policymakers’ concerns are increasingly shifting to low inflation. According to Eurostat, consumer prices …
11 May 2016 To say that negotiations for an EU-U.S. trade deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), have lost momentum since they …
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 …
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 …
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 …
18 February 2016 The sharing economy is based on reductions in transaction costs which enable exchanges that were previously not possible. Sharing economy firms …
21 December 2015 While platforms can operate online and offline, the internet has created new opportunities to lower transaction costs by linking users. Recently, …
1 December 2015 Existing evidence from large refugee migrations and the recent influx of Syrian migrants into Middle Eastern countries shows no adverse effects …
15 September 2015 From 2016, e-cigarettes will face additional regulation under Article 20 of the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). Given that non-smokers …
15 June 2015 The digital revolution is increasingly making barriers to access, trade and innovation obsolete. Remaining obstacles to more efficient exchange of …
1 mai 2015 À la lumière des affaires récentes dans le secteur numérique, la politique de concurrence doit changer. Les chiffres portant sur …
17 April 2015 In light of recent cases in the digital sector, competition policy needs to change. Market share figures tend to …
7 April 2015 Post-crisis financial regulation of banks and new regulations being developed for insurance companies have likely contributed to the dearth …
12 March 2015 The Energy Union can further the process of opening up and integrating energy markets within the European Union. However, there …
14 January 2015 A response to the European Commission’s findings in its 2014 consultation on investment protection and the investor-state dispute settlement …
16 December 2014 The Commission should work to preserve the highest degree of tax competition between Member States. The CCCTB poses the danger …
20 avril 2015 Le « dégroupage » réduirait sévèrement la capacité des moteurs de recherche à innover, tout en augmentant également les …
26 November 2014 Given the lack of evidence of anti-competitive behaviour in the search engine market, action by the European Commission is unjustified. …
20 November 2014 With cross-border trade volumes reaching new heights every year, and with governments still prone to arbitrary action, there is a …
Christopher Snowdon, October 2014 Dealing with public health challenges requires some degree of government action to protect the population from contagious diseases and …
Žilvinas Šilėnas, October 2014 The success of the internal market for products can and should be repeated for energy. Natural barriers to market …
Pierre Desrochers, October 2014 The free-trade deal between Canada and the European Union has often been described as a template for the potentially …
Massimiliano Trovato, October 2014 It is widely acknowledged that Europe lags behind when it comes to digital entrepreneurship. The largest players in the …
Malin Sahlén, October 2014 The free movement of workers across Member States is one the main historic achievements of the European integration process. …
Cristina Berechet, October 2014 The economic and financial crisis has affected the ability of the EU financial sector to channel funds towards the …
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