From the economists’ perspective, the Capital Markets Union (CMU) represents a policy experiment that allows studying how legal conditions, economic incentives and financial activity interact. Recent papers provide economic support for the overall objective of CMU, but the robustness of this...

This paper presents empirical evidence that euro-area wholesale banking markets have become fragmented along national boundaries. The estimations identify a significant premium in the range 60-170 basis points on issued debt that banks have paid to investors if they are located in Spain, Ireland...

EMU's unique economic governance structure was set up by the Maastricht Treaty to ensure the proper functioning of the economic and monetary union. A single monetary policy is entrusted with an independent central bank, a range of common policies is decided by the Council (notably the ECOFIN...

This paper reviews the available indicators in the European Union to monitor short-term labour cost developments, i.e. of quarterly frequency, with a special focus on the euro area. It clarifies concepts, provides information on availability and compares the indicators against various...