May 1, 2016
As growth rates in the Eurozone gather steam, policymakers’ concerns are increasingly shifting to low inflation. According to Eurostat, consumer prices in the Eurozone have declined by 0.2% in the past year.
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May 1, 2016
The new Tobacco Products Directive (TPD2) dramatically tightens regulation of cigarettes, rolling tobacco and e-cigarettes. Yet, it is unclear that it will lead to improved health outcomes.
April 1, 2016
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is today the EU’s most expensive policy, taking up almost half of the annual budget. It is also its most interventionist and complex policy. Multiple reforms have created a system of decoupled payments to farmers that protect and prolong the life of small-scale farms and constrain large-scale farming and the evolution towards a more efficient industry structure.
April 1, 2016
In sum, the Commission’s Statement of Objections concerning Android is not justified in light of the existing arrangements between Google and its various counterparties.
February 1, 2016
The sharing economy is based on reductions in transaction costs which enable exchanges that were previously not possible. Sharing economy firms facilitate a more efficient use of assets, to the benefit of both asset owners and prospective users. Its potential positive impact on welfare has been estimated at over €1,000 per EU citizen.
September 15, 2015
From 2016, e-cigarettes will face additional regulation under Article 20 of the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). Given that non-smokers have so far shown little interest in e-cigarettes, critics argue that discouraging ‘vaping’ amounts to encouraging smoking and that some of the new regulations will damage health by raising prices and reducing the appeal of products which, if smokers switched to them, would save lives. However, Member States have some latitude in implementing the TPD.
June 1, 2015
The digital revolution is increasingly making barriers to access, trade and innovation obsolete. Remaining obstacles to more efficient exchange of digital goods and services across the EU must be examined in this context. It is very likely that a continued open environment to innovation will be the most effective way to remove whatever barriers still exist. In general, the bias should be against new regulation.
May 1, 2015
À la lumière des affaires récentes dans le secteur numérique, la politique de concurrence doit changer. Les chiffres portant sur les parts de marché tendent à sous-estimer la prédominance des
forces concurrentielles, et les enquêtes récentes de la DG COMP ont systématiquement ignoré la possibilité que des innovations majeures se produisent en dehors du marché concerné.
April 1, 2015
In light of recent cases in the digital sector, competition policy needs to change. Market share figures tend to underestimate the prevalence of competitive forces, and recent DG COMP probes have consistently ignored the possibility of innovation coming from outside the relevant market. Without a substantive change in outlook, it is likely that competition will be harmed by intervention.