Out of Pocket

This paper examines the tax and regulatory policies fuelling inflation across five European countries. The detailed analysis of high price levels in Germany, Italy, …

Changing the rules: A unilateral approach to non-tariff barriers

From 2023, all EU goods destined for the UK market will need to be certified with a new regulatory customs mark, recognising the regulatory independence of the …

Will the 2020s be a good decade for classical liberals?

YES – says Alexander Hammond
It is unlikely that most people will be rampant classical liberals by 2030. Still, for the remainder of …

The cracks in China’s economy

The Chinese real estate giant Evergrande has been a popular topic of conversation in recent weeks. It is not only the company’s liabilities of …

The decline in poverty and the increase in the number of billionaires go hand in hand

The Index of Economic Freedom, which is compiled every year by the Heritage Foundation, shows that the most capitalist countries have an average per capita …

The economic damage inflicted by production taxes

Production taxes in France have long been a contentious issue closely linked to employment and wage growth. France currently sets one of the highest …

Can the CBAM ensure a cost-efficient energy transition?

The Carbon Borders Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is one of the key regulations to compliment the EU’s existing ETS scheme in tackling carbon leakages. As …

Changing competences

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 …

Raising barriers

The voting patterns of political parties in the national parliaments of Greece, Italy and Spain, and of their members of the European Parliament, show …

Diaspora Mainstreaming in EU Development Cooperation with Africa

Diaspora communities hold incalculable potential to support their home countries and have long been acknowledged as actors for development thanks to their unique transnational …

Deepening the EU-Japan EPA

The EU and Japan are like-minded: both support a rules-based, open global trade system and share similar values on democracy, freedom of expression and …

Prospects of a free trade deal with India

During the summer the EU Council published “A Globally Connected Europe”, in which it outlined its geopolitical strategy towards Asia, intending to deepen its …

Nord Stream 2: further weakening EU strategy on Russia

The recent outrage sparked by the German-Franco proposal of an EU-Russia summit for Poland and the Baltic States shows how deeply the EU is …

From FTAs to MRAs: The Potential Pathway forward for the EU and US

The United States lacks a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU, and the failed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations during …

The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment is oversold

After almost seven years of discussions and negotiations, it was announced on December 30, 2020, that the EU and China concluded in principle the …

EU Accession and Economic Freedom

The access to European Union and the status of EU membership require significant reforms in order for a country to align with the Union’s …

Free Trade is a Human Right

As Joe Biden becomes the 46th President of the United States, international trade will be the center of attention again. Joe Biden is not …

Towards a more autonomous EU

The European Council President Charles Michel envisions a more “autonomous” (i.e. economically self-sufficient) EU. However, this pursuit of economic independence, under the guise of …

Finding the right balance: EU-China relations after Covid-19

The virtual meeting between top-level EU and Chinese officials on 14 September appears to be an ironic metaphor of the increasing distance in the …

Global supply chains in a post-COVID world

COVID-19 has caused huge disruptions to global trade and supply chains, both directly and indirectly (as a result of policy responses: lockdowns, social distancing …

Rejecting Mercosur would be a lose-lose

Nearly a month ago, “Fridays for Future” speaker Luisa Neubauer met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. According to Neubauer, Merkel assured her that she …

Economic Freedom of the World

The  Economic Freedom of the World Index measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom. The …

How will Covid-19 affect global trade?

In April, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) published its latest trade forecast predicting global trade in goods would fall by between 13% and 32% in 2020 …

Freight Expectations: Post-pandemic prospects for global trade

The World Trade Organization has predicted that global trade in goods will drop by between 13 and 32 per cent in 2020 as a …

Now is not the time to go soft on globalisation (part 2)

…continued from Part 1.
No discussion of globalisation would be complete without considering some of the myths that have over the recent years come to …

No relocation without tax and regulatory relief

French inadequacies in the face of the COVID-19 crisis are giving rise to a fully fledged attack on globalisation. We are observing an increase …

Now is not the time to go soft on globalisation

The progress that free trade and globalisation have achieved are coming under severe threat from the Covid-19 pandemic. There are siren …

The Oil Price War

In tandem with the stock market crash, following persisting negative news regarding the coronavirus, oil prices have drastically dropped. The current demand for oil …

Coronavirus is not the end of globalisation

The outbreak of the new coronavirus COVID-19 has been described as a threat to globalisation. But spreading risk across the world is essential in …

Giving the EU-GCC Trade Relations a Chance

Oman started 2020 off on the right foot when it comes to economic freedom. Only a few days before Sultan Qaboos passed away on …

Stop trying to make trade agreements “woke”

Trade has lifted billions of people out of poverty by fostering international cooperation, expanding consumer choice, and above all, by integrating developing economies into …

A new chapter between the EU and Vietnam

In 2019, the European Commission agreed a landmark Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Vietnam, which was ratified by the European Parliament earlier this week. …

Evaluating the Africa-EU Partnership

European companies, especially in the construction sector, have long complained that Chinese official credit lines make them less competitive by comparison in African countries. …

Two cheers for the EU-Mercosur Agreement

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 …

Two cheers for the EU-Mercosur Agreement

There has been a great deal of cheering over the recent free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (the South American trade bloc …

Trade and the populist upheaval

In the recent European elections, authoritarian populist parties, gained a great number of seats (almost 24% of the total) in the European Parliament (EP). …

Free trade? Merco-sure!

For almost 20 years, EU negotiations with Mercosur, the South American trade bloc, have been a great challenge. Mercosur’s economic and political issues, French …

Reshaping Eurasian relations

The European Commission has recently begun the process of rekindling the EU’s relationship with Central Asia, located at the crossroads between the Middle East, …

Opening up the Atlantic

This week, the European Council approved mandates for the European Commission to open negotiations with the United States on two trade agreements.  First, an …

The future of EU and Africa relations

Increasing globalisation has had many effects on international trade, and Africa is no exception. In Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, economic growth increased to 3.1% …

Rice regulations: Protectionism In Disguise

In January the European Union announced a ‘significant’ increase of customs duties on Indica rice produced in Cambodia and Myanmar and exported to the …

Either goods will cross borders, or armies will

The practice of economic sanctions is not new. 2,400 years ago, Athens declared a trade embargo on the neighbouring city state of Megara, strangling …

EU Right to Pursue Liberalization of Aviation Markets

External aviation policy in Europe was preceded by bilateral agreements between countries. At this time, aviation markets were divided up by country and dominated …

CAP Subsidies Impinge on Australasian Free Trade

In a world of increasing economic protectionism, the EU claims to remain committed to free and fair international trade. Yet, the Common Agricultural Policy …

Free trade and how it enriches us

Free trade improves the well-being of all parties to it. The most significant way that trade achieves this outcome is by enabling and incentivising …

Some very Italian midsummer night’s questions on CETA

With the Italian Parliament still deep into its summer break, several important political and economic questions are gripping the minds of many voters. Leaving …

Deal or No Deal: Mexico’s Future in Trade

In a landslide victory 1 July, Mexico voted in its first third-party president. According to exit poll data, Andrés Manuel López Obrador gained more …

Is the EU-Japan EPA an inspiration for an EU-UK deal?

On Tuesday of last week, the European Union and Japan signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Following over four years of negotiation, the EPA …

Non-tariff barriers to trade are damaging too

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 …

Growing protectionism after the financial crisis

The weak global GDP growth since the financial crisis in 2007-2009 has coincided with unusually weak growth in global trade.
The average global tariff …

How high a price will the global economy pay for Trump’s tariffs?

In a last-minute move, President Trump granted several key allies exemptions from the steel and aluminium tariffs that came into effect recently. Apart from …

The EU should avoid a tit-for-tat trade strategy with China

On 13 September, the European Commission’s President, Jean-Claude Juncker, is set to deliver his 2017 State of the Union speech. Whilst Mr Juncker wants …

Who’s afraid of free trade?

Two reports published in the last few days have advocated the benefits of free trade. You might have expected them to be well received …

Macron’s protectionist ideas will ultimately harm the whole EU

The election of Macron is starting to cause problems to Europe and – in particular – to Italy. Until a few days ago, the …

What would count as a ‘successful’ Brexit?

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 …

Time to re-think the EU trade policy

As of 2017, the EU has 44 trade agreements in place with more than 60 countries across the globe. In addition, five accords have …

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, …

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 …

EU-Australia Free Trade Deal

Earlier this month, a phone-call between EU Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malström, and the Australian Trade Minister, Steven Ciobo, concluded a year-long scoping exercise on …

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 …

Why economic forecasts get the impact of Brexit wrong

The economics profession has not exactly covered itself in glory in recent years. Few people forecasted the crash. Forecasts of economic recovery after the …

The Istituto Bruno Leoni Index of Globalisation: a summary

On 28 March, EPICENTER’s Italian partner, the Istituto Bruno Leoni (IBL), published its Index of Globalisation. The index covers 39 countries, including members of …

Challenges for a Global Britain outside the European Union – Migration, Trade and Finance

Today, March 29th 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May officially triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, thereby beginning the formal process of withdrawing the …

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 …

Mercantilist arguments in the Union

Over the last few years, prominent economists, think tanks and business newspapers have come to the consensus that Germany’s trade surplus is a problem …

CETA’s long journey. Any end in sight?

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) has had a long journey to today’s vote of consent in the European Parliament. Most of the …

EU energy policy: let’s stop walking backwards

In order to harmonise and liberalise the EU’s internal energy market, three consecutive legislative packages of measures were adopted between 1996 and 2009, addressing …

The failure of Magnette’s “Namur Declaration”

On December 5th, Paul Magnette, the current Minister-President of the French-speaking region of Wallonia, Belgium, unveiled his so-called “Namur Declaration”, a 3-page-long statement whose …

Last call for TTIP

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is currently in a negotiatory limbo. Even though the European Commission has estimated such an agreement would …

How could the world’s biggest exporter oppose freer trade?

On September 17th, more than 100,000 people took to the streets of several German cities to protest against both the Transatlantic Trade and Investment …

Tariffs & domestic consumers

Repeat after me: tariffs primarily hurt domestic consumers – not foreign exporters
 
Tariffs primarily hurt the consumers of the country imposing them on …

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 …

CETA; Dead, alive or somewhere in-between?

Briana Chui // 27.10.2016
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a prospective trade deal between Canada and the EU, came to a screeching …

Saving Brexit from the Brexiteers: why free-market liberals should support the EFTA/EEA option

Kristian Niemietz // 04.08.2016
 
If the so-called ‘EFTA/EEA option’ – leaving the EU, but staying in the single market, or in close vicinity …

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 …

Public opinion is turning against free trade and globalisation

Diego Zuluaga // 05.07.2016
This article is based on a presentation delivered at the Restructuring of the Global Economy (ROGE) conference, Oxford University.
 
It …

Brexit: a natural experiment for the EU

29 June 2016
Can a country do better after leaving the EU? Indeed, we can perform an even more granular analysis and seek to …

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. …

TTIP: a pre-mortem

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 …

TTIP: a pre-mortem

Diego Zuluaga // 11.05.2016
To say that negotiations for an EU-U.S. trade deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), have lost momentum since …

Nord Stream 2: a pro-European business decision

Greta Gietz // 19.02.2016
In a time where the future of the European Idea and an ever-closer European Union are heavily debated, challenged by …

The Effect of Harmonisation of the Corporate Tax Base in the EU

Lithuanian Free Market Institute, November 2015
The European Commission has re-launched the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) initiative. CCCTB refers to a proposal …

All the conspiracy theories around TTIP

Brexit: Directions for Britain Outside the EU

Ralph Buckle, Tim Hewish, John C. Hulsman, Iain Mansfield, Robert Oulds, February 2015
It is quite possible that there will be a referendum on …

Response: European Commission report on investment protection in TTIP

 
14 January 2015
 
A response to the European Commission’s findings in its 2014 consultation on investment protection and the investor-state dispute settlement …

Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Myths and Reality

20 November 2014
 
With cross-border trade volumes reaching new heights every year, and with governments still prone to arbitrary action, there is a …

The TTIP and the future of EU free trade agreements

Pierre Desrochers, October 2014
 
The free-trade deal between Canada and the European Union has often been described as a template for the potentially …

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 …

Barriers to prosperity – developing countries and the need for trade liberalisation

 
Sushil Mohan, Sangeeta Khorana and Homagni Choudhury, IEA, November 2012
 
Non-tariff barriers are an important impediment to trade for less developed countries. …

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 …