This text explores the ways in which the European Union frames and conducts its international relations. Each chapter deals with the three key themes of the volume - the EU as a sub-system of international relations, the EU and the processes of international relations, and the EU as a power.

This paper investigates to what extent the tax and transfer systems in Europe protect households at different income levels against losses in current income caused by economic downturns like the present financial crisis. We use a multi country micro simulation model to analyse how shocks on...

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of the tax and transfer systems in the European Union and the US to act as an automatic stabilizer in the current economic crisis. We find that automatic stabilizers absorb 38 per cent of a proportional income shock in the EU, compared to 32 per cent in the...