Large and differentiated fiscal adjustments underway in EU countries require credible strategies, including a growth-friendly approach to consolidation design. This brief captures in a summary fashion the main underlying principles for fiscal adjustments of high quality. While setting some...

The economic and fiscal outlook has recently improved for European economies, raising the odds that high public debts inherited from the crisis will be gradually wound down in line with EU fiscal rules. This will however take time and future debt trajectories remain exposed to significant...

The present global financial crisis is the deepest since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It has impacted severely on the European economy. It has forced policy-makers in the EU and elsewhere to respond with exceptional measures to counter the depressive effects of the crisis. The crisis has...

The 11th Brussels Economic Forum, held on 25-26 May 2010, took place against a background of the Greek debt crisis and keen debate on the future of Europe's economic governance. In that sense it took place at the ideal moment. Participants debated the causes and consequences of the crisis, and...

There is a widespread perception that imbalances within the euro area are not adjusting, the major difficulty being that the competitive disinflation processes required in deficit countries are painful, while no strong incentives are always available in surplus countries to reduce their excess...

Amidst current fears of recession and economic stagnation, this note presents an optimistic view of the euro area's prospects over the medium-term. We claim that the EA has a more than fair chance to leave the crisis behind in a much stronger overall position than before, not least vis-à-vis...