This paper highlights the economic meaning of the size of the state for members of the European Union, thereby making the economic success of EU states statistically tangible. Firstly, we show in descriptive illustrations that the theoretically expected characteristics of small countries clearly...

Der Begriff der europäischen Integration findet in wissenschaftlichen Beiträgen und politi-schen Debatten zwar große Verwendung, eine einheitliche Definition existiert jedoch nicht. Hierdurch sind Integrationsschritte oder -prozesse kaum quantifizierbar. Auch wird selten darauf eingegangen,...

Die vergangenen Jahrzehnte waren weltweit durch eine Zunahme der außenwirtschaftlichen Ungleichgewichte gekennzeichnet. Den Leistungsbilanzüberschussländern, insbesondere Deutschland, wird in diesem Zusammenhang zunehmend vorgeworfen, durch zu moderate Lohnsteigerungen wesentlich zum Aufbau...

This paper deals with the question of what impact membership of the European Monetary Union (EMU) has had on small European states. We will also analyze whether or to what extent a large number of small member states affect the EMU itself when they vastly outnumber the large countries. We...

The paper adresses the need for more flexibility in the integration process of the European Union after its recent eastward enlargement. Due to the increasing number of decision-makers and the increasing heterogeneity of economic structures, financial constraints, societal preferences, and...

The ways of decision making within the EU have significantly changed in the last decades: the rule of unanimity has been more and more substituted by majority voting in order to speed up decision-making processes in a Union of 27 heterogeneous member states. A third possibility is now offered by...