Die Europäische Union schickt sich an, wichtige Entscheidungen für ihre Zukunft zu treffen. Der eingesetzte Konvent wird eine europäische Verfassung ausarbeiten, die Entscheidungsmechanismen der Union reformieren soll. Welche ökonomischen Aspekte sollten dabei Berücksichtigung finden? Nach...

This paper examines the role of government wages in ensuring macroeconomic stability and competitiveness in the euro area. Recent empirical evidence suggests that government wage expenditure is subject to a pro-cyclical bias in most euro area countries and at the euro area aggregate level....

The sovereign debt crisis in the euro area is a symptom of policy failures and deficiencies in – among other things – fiscal policy coordination. The first nine years of the euro were not used effectively in order to improve public finances, while the Stability and Growth Pact was watered...

The study looks at primary expenditure developments in the euro area, its three largest members and four "macro-imbalances" countries for the period 1999-2009. It compares actual expenditure trends with those that would have prevailed if countries had followed neutral policies based on...