The process of European monetary integration : a comparison of the Belgian and Italian approaches

This paper analyses and compares the roles which Belgium and Italy have played in the process of European monetary integration. It discusses Belgian and Italian attitudes towards European integration and EMU, exchange rate policies, key concepts of the Belgian and Italian EMU strategies and the concrete contributions made by Belgium and Italy. Overall, these two countries played an important and pace-setting role in the process of European monetary integration. They developed several creative and diplomatic proposals. Moreover, Belgian and Italian policy-makers often acted as "policy entrepreneurs" and proved to be skilful negotiators. The main difference is that Belgium has been a constant and consistent "pace-setter" in monetary matters, from the preparation of the Hague Summit to the elaboration of the EMS, the monetary chapter in the Single European Act and the realisation of EMU, whereas Italy was mainly active in the 1980s. This assessment of the Belgian and Italian contributions does not challenge the decisive impact of the Franco-German axis, but illustrates that EMU was a multilateral process. Furthermore, the paper shows how important it was for a country to achieve a sound economic performance, especially a stable exchange rate, in order to have influence on the European monetary scene.European monetary integration, Belgium, Italy

Aspects of the Current Fiscal - Budgetary Situation in Some Euro Area Countries. Implications for Romania

The financial and economic global crisis has exacerbated some of the imbalances existent in all EU Member States, in particular the fiscal-budgetary imbalances. For some countries whose currency is euro, the fiscal and budgetary challenges seem to threaten even the stability of the euro area. Thus, in the context of financial and economic global crisis, this article aims at identifying a number of negative aspects of the fiscal-budgetary situation of some euro area countries, more seriously affected (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Spain) and at revealing a series of possible implications of this phenomenon for Romania, thus giving originality of the conducted analysis. A fulcrum in this approach is the economic literature and the authors’ research work in the field of European integration. Through a comparative approach, the authors have identified some weaknesses of the Romanian economy generated by the current situation of some euro area countries. Given the place of the theme within the frame of present interest researches, the article’s results will be of interest for both academics and practitioners

Aspects of the Current Fiscal - Budgetary Situation in Some Euro Area Countries. Implications for Romania

The financial and economic global crisis has exacerbated some of the imbalances existent inall EU Member States, in particular the fiscal-budgetary imbalances. For some countries whosecurrency is euro, the fiscal and budgetary challenges seem to threaten even the stability of the euroarea. Thus, in the context of financial and economic global crisis, this article aims at identifying anumber of negative aspects of the fiscal-budgetary situation of some euro area countries, moreseriously affected (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Spain) and at revealing a series of possibleimplications of this phenomenon for Romania, thus giving originality of the conducted analysis. Afulcrum in this approach is the economic literature and the authors’ research work in the field ofEuropean integration. Through a comparative approach, the authors have identified some weaknessesof the Romanian economy generated by the current situation of some euro area countries. Given theplace of the theme within the frame of present interest researches, the article’s results will be of interestfor both academics and practitioners

DEFINING AND ESTIMATING UNDERGROUND AND INFORMAL ECONOMIES: THE NEW INSTITIONAL ECONOMICS APPROACH

A taxonomy of underground economies is elaborated based on the new institutional approach to economic development. Members of formal sectors confront different sets of transformation and transaction costs than do members of informal sectors and these differences are regarded as crucial to the development process. The paper distinguishes illegal, unreported, unrecorded and informal economies and examines the conceptual and empirical linkages among them. Alternative micro and macro methodologies for measuring underground activities are reviewed and evaluated including census and survey procedures, discrepancies and monetary methods. To be published in World Development, Vol 18, No 7, 1990.Underground, unrecorded, unreported, informal, illegal, unobserved, hidden, shadow economy, transaction costs, monetary methods.

5G and its Implications in the Economic Relations between China and European Countries, with a Special Focus on Italy

The economic relations between China and the European countries are tightened by an intensive interdependence in different sectors mainly trades and services but decades of successful relations could be affected by the pressure risen around the development of the 5G network Recently the development of the technology of the future 5G network is having a certain effect on the relations among those countries that joined the race for the leading global position The major players in this geopolitical technological and economic affair are China and the USA therefore Europe plays an important role as well These occurrences may increase not only the strategic suppleness of powers like China India the United States and the European Union but also the weight of nourishing alignments and fruitful partnerships This research takes into consideration two fundamental elements to analyze this state of affairs the economic interdependence between China and the European countries and the protection of cybersecurity The comparative research method and the discourse analysis are employed in this research conducted examining the recent events from 2018 to January 2020 and the different approaches of the governments to the new technolog

Spatially uneven development and low carbon transitions: Insights from urban and regional planning

The ageing of existing energy system infrastructure, the threat of climate change and uncertainty in the movement of energy prices have resulted in a widespread agreement on the need for a transition to a low carbon energy system. Yet the nature of this transition (i.e. what, when, how and where) and its socio-economic outcomes at different scales are not well understood. The interdependence of the energy sector and economic growth has been mostly studied at the national level (via some general equilibrium or econometric models) whilst sub-national studies at community or urban levels mostly focus on the governance of transitions. Hence, we suggest that a regional perspective to energy policy and research promises to integrate these two approaches by providing a more robust and comprehensive understanding of the implications of low carbon transitions, as well as contributing to the development of more effective policies. By building on recent ideas on geographical aspects of energy transitions, this article offers insights on the changing relationship between the spatial organisation of economic activities and energy systems, and identifies tools and methods from urban and regional planning to help with the delivery of efficient and equitable policy outcomes

a review of the instruments of the EU, Germany, France, and Italy

This paper explores how the idea of resilience has made its way into the external action of the European Union (EU) and selected member states (Germany, France and Italy) as a means to address areas of limited statehood and contested orders. It examines the debates informing the development of the EU’s external action and current concerns in economic, political, and migration instruments. The main findings are that the EU’s economic and political instruments have become gradually dominated by resilience framings, with an emphasis on multilateralism, adaptation, and long-term and bottom-up responses. Resilience also increasingly drives the humanitarian assistance and development cooperation policies in Germany and to a lesser extent France, which have gradually moved away from top-down administrative and centralized models of governance. The EU and member states like Italy, however, have been more reluctant to foster resilience to address migration issues. Instead, they have prevented flows of irregular migrants into Europe by means of containment strategies such as improving border management, policing, and surveillance and combating smuggling networks

Art and Money: Constitutional Rights in the Private Sphere?

The present debate on constitutional rights aims to protect the individual against the intrusive power of the state. Analysing the precarious relationship between art and money, the authors argue that constitutional rights need to be extended into the regimes of private governance. This requires four fundamental changes. (1) Constitutional rights can no longer be limited to the protection of individual actors. Instead, they need to be extended to guarantees of freedom of discourses. (2) The new experience of the twentieth century is that totalizing tendencies have their origin not only in politics, but also in other fields of action, especially in technology, science, and the economy. Thus, a discursive concept of constitutional rights should be directed against any social system with totalizing tendencies. (3) Instead of concentrating on centres of economic and social power, constitutional rights in the private sphere should focus on the specific communicative medium of the expansionist social system involved. (4) This excludes the direct analogy of a ‘right' as a quasispatial exclusion zone. More significant guarantees of discursive autonomy could be found in a ‘proceduralization' of constitutional right