The fiscal policy framework of EMU and the preventative arm of the Stability and Growth Pact, which should preclude excessive deficits in member states and fine any transgressors, have now been suspended. The authors of the latest CEPR Report in the Monitoring European Integration series titled Stability and Growth in Europe: Towards a Better Pact, argue for the establishment of a Sustainability Council, an independent institutional framework allowing for informed and credible judgment in the short run while preserving sustainable public finances in the long run. more...

CEPR's EuroCOIN indicates the fourth month of slowdown of euro-area economic growth for March 2004 and confirms, with minimal revisions, the preliminary estimates issued last month. EuroCOIN fell from 0.561 in February (revised figure) to 0.494 in March 2004. more...

Those who stand to benefit most from EU membership vote against it

Wage subsidies for low-skilled workers would take jobs out of the shadow economy

Workers from non-EU countries are hired because of a shortage of high-skilled labour

New data permit in-depth study of Eurozone government bond market

Crises of confidence in international financial markets

A new CEPR study, 'Pensions Policy: Evidence on Aspects of Savings Behaviour and Capital Markets' by David McCarthy and Anthony Neuberger, reviews the evidence relevant to policy formulation in important aspects of pensions policy. Against a backdrop of an ageing population and the shift away from state pensions and employer defined benefit plans to private saving and defined contribution plans, the authors have chosen to focus their analysis on possible capital market effects of these changes, and on factors affecting the supply of private savings and the provision of employer-based plans. The evidence suggests that policy-makers should be particularly concerned with the functioning of annuities markets and with encouraging further primary research on the effects of tax incentives on personal savings. more...

CEPR has formed a committee of experts to set the dates of the euro area business cycle. Its mission is to establish the chronology of recessions and expansions of the euro area. In the Committee's first statement it dated the business cycle for the original 11 members of the euro area from 1970-1998 and of the current euro area as a whole since 1999. The Committee will continue to meet and define turning points in the euro area business cycle when a change in the direction of euro area economic activity has taken place. more...

In October 2003, CEPR appointed Mr. Vivian Davies as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Mr Davies joined CEPR from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), a policy research NGO, where he had responsibility for overseeing financial, administrative and fundraising operations; managing the programme and project portfolio; and coordinating project funding proposals. more...

Take a look at the new research and CEPR meetings coming up in the months ahead. more...

Read about important forthcoming economic and political events taking place in the EU. more...

CEPR Chief Executive, Hilary Beech.
The last several months have been extremely busy for CEPR, with much good news to report. more...

CEPR Researcher Tim Hatton explains how eastern enlargement of the EU is likely to affect the UK labour market and whether common fears regarding the enlargement process are justified. more...

Recent news:
Read press coverage of the CEPR pensions policy review more...
Read press coverage of the latest Report in CEPR's Monitoring European Integration more...
Read press coverage of CEPR's Euro Area Business Cycle Dating Committee more...

April 2003 more...

June 2003 more...