The paper analyzes one important aspect of the constitutional debate: the allocation of econornie competences between the EU and the mernber states. It takes the theory of fiscal federalism as a starting point for an optimal allocation of economic competences. The main message of the theory is...

Economic theory and empirical evidence suggest that governments might usefully intervene in high-technology competition in two ways: First, they could act as a neutral agent that creates the necessary credibility, commitment and mutual trust among private companies so as to facilitate...

Because of the upswing in electronic commerce via the Internet, governments in the European Union and the United States have been discussing the shaping of an effective system of turnover taxation in cyberspace since the late 1990s, but have failed to agree on a definite tax system. An analysis...

Subsidies have become one of the most important instruments for industrial policy purposes in recent years, especially for the purpose of promoting high-technology industries. However, the multilateral rules for the granting of subsidies and the imposition of countervailing duties are still...

After having guaranteed the functioning of the multilateral system of trade negotiations within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) for more than 40 years, the United States is obviously changing its trade strategy. There is an ongoing debate within the Clinton administration and...

After the removal of intra-Community borders, the traditional VAT system of the EC which was based on the Destination principle and fiscal border controls had to be reformed. The ECOFIN-Council decided to preserve the Destination principle for a transition period from January 1, 1993 to December...

From a pure welfare economic viewpoint, there is no contradiction between a deepening and a widening of the EU. However, the analysis in this paper shows that the factual degree of deepening efforts within the EU by far exceeds the economically optimal one. Above all, the tendency of the...