Even though the roots of the global financial crisis lay in risky financial structures in the United States and weaknesses in financial regulation, the crisis became global mainly because of significant financial and trade linkages between the US and other countries. Most countries, including...

Based on a dataset of manufacturing sectors from five major European economies (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) between 2000 and 2011, we identify a number of key sector-level features that, according to established economic research, have a positive impact on the...

Standards reduce production costs and increase productsâ?? value to consumers. Standards however entail risks of anti-competitive abuse. After the adoption of a standard, the chosen technology normally lacks credible substitutes. The owner of the patented technology might thus have additional...

Blog post 'Chinaâ??s catching up on competition policy enforcement' Chinaâ??s Anti-Monopoly Law, adopted in 2007, is largely compatible with antitrust law in the European Union, the United States and other jurisdictions. Enforcement activity by the Chinese authorities is also approaching the...

The issue: Anti-cartel enforcement is the least controversial of competition policy themes. Agreements to restrict competition such as price fixing or market sharing have obvious negative effects on welfare. Within the European Union, however, industry representatives have increasingly voiced...

The issue: Excluding cartels, most investigations into suspected infringements of European Union competition law are resolved with â??commitment decisionsâ??. The European Commission drops the case in exchange for a commitment from the company under investigation to implement measures to stop...

The Issue:foreign takeovers are often a source of concern for national governments. Concerns might be of a strategic nature (for example in cases of deals in the defence sector) or of a more economic nature. In these cases,the public perception is often that a foreign investor, being less...

The new EU leadership â?? the president of the European Commission and his team of commissioners, and the presidents of the European Council and of the European Parliament â?? will have to address pressing challenges. Go to eu2do.bruegel.org to read all the Memos, download the individual Memos...

â?¢ The single market is often perceived as the panacea for Europeâ??s economic troubles. It is believed that completing the single market would boost welfare, stimulate growth and increase European competitiveness. â?¢ However, identifying and quantifying the channels through which market...

Standards reduce production costs and increase the value of products to consumers; ultimately they significantly contribute to economic development. Standards however entail risks of anti-competitive abuse. After the adoption of a standard, the elimination of competition between technologies can...