Estimating the size of the European stimulus packages

David Saha and Jakob von Weizsäcker present the latest breakdown of the fiscal stimuli in the 13 largest EU economies and compare the total European package for 2009 to the US stimulus package. The authors estimate the size of the European stimulus packages to increase to 0.99% of GDP following increases in the stimulus packages in the Netherlands, the UK and Germany . The US stimulus package is estimated at about 1.7 percent of GDP, substantially above the EU average but only marginally above the largest national stimulus package in the EU.

How effective and legitimate is the European semester? Increasing role of the European parliament

The European Semester is a new institutional process that provides EU member states with ex-ante guidance on fiscal and structural objectives. The Semesterâ??s goals are ambitious and it is still uncertain how it will fit into the new EU economic governance framework. We find that member states are only slowly internalising the new procedure. Furthermore, the Semester has so far lacked legitimacy due to the minor role assigned to the European Parliament, the marginal involvement of national parliaments and the lack of transparency of the process at some stages. Finally, there remains room to clarify the implications from a unified legal text. In fact, diluting the legal separation of recommendations on National Reform Programmes and Council opinions on Stability and Convergence Programmes may compromise effective surveillance and governance. The European Parliament has an important role to play. It needs hold the Commission and the Council accountable. This and the overall objective of enhancing the new procedureâ??s effectiveness and legitimacy can be done by means of a regular Economic Dialogue on the Semester.

Fourth annual Science in the House exhibition at the new parliament building

Members of Parliament, the House of Representatives and researchers were in attendance at the 4th annual Science in the House exhibition in the New Parliament Building in Valletta at noon of Thursday 24th September 2015. The event was inaugurated under the auspices of the Off ce of the Speaker by Ray Scicluna. Following comments by Prof. Alex Felice, speeches were presented by MPs Deborah Schembri and Claudio Grech. A few comments were made on behalf of the Faculty of Science by Prof. Emmanuel Sinagra to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Science at the University of Malta. The formal opening of the event concluded with enlightening words from the University Rector, Prof. Juanito Camilleri. The exhibition consisted of 12 posters representative of various research projects at the University of Malta from the Faculties of Science, Medicine and Surgery, Dental Surgery and Health Sciences. A commemorative poster was also dis played by the Faculty of Science to celebrate its 100th anniversary, which coincides with the centennial of Einstein's theory of relativity. Science in the House is organised by the Malta Chamber of Scientists, the University Research Trust (RIDT) and the Science in the City, European Researchers' Night consortium. Science in the City, European Researchers Night is mainly funded by the EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action of the Horizon 2020 (H2020) Programme. It is recognised by Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe (EFFE).peer-reviewe

United States – European Union Agricultural Trade Flows

Population growth and general economic performance drives global demand for food and agricultural products, which lays the foundation for trade and U.S. exports (ERS a). Through the effects on employment, purchasing power and income, agricultural exports play a significant role in both the farm and nonfarm economy (Edmonson). In 2006, each export farm dollar earned generated an additional $1.65 in business activity in 2006 (Edmondson). As a result, the$71.0 billion earned in agricultural exports stimulated an additional $117.2 billion in general economic activity in 2006 (Edmondson). Over the past five years, values of agricultural exports from the U.S. have been on the rise hitting record levels (Brooks). Increased demand in Canada and Mexico are primarily responsible for the renewed growth within agricultural exports (Brooks). Figure 1-1 shows all major agricultural products being exported from the U.S. over the past five years. The largest area of agricultural exports from the U.S. has consistently been cereal products. These types of products include major cereals such as barley, millet, and oat, as well as pseudo cereals that include buckwheat, amaranth and quinoa (Seibel). These products currently compose 23% of total U.S. agricultural exports and have traditionally been the largest export product(ERS a).Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Industrial Organization,

The role of public policy in stimulating radical environmental impact reduction in the automotive sector: The need to focus on product-service system innovation

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 InderscienceProduct-service system (PSS) innovation is a promising approach to address sustainability challenges in the automotive industry. Starting form this assumption, this paper presents and discusses the potential contribution that policy measures can have in fostering the automotive sector in innovating on a PSS level. A set of policy instruments (general instruments and specific PSS-targeted ones) are presented and classified, underlining the effects they could produce at the company and environmental levels. In order to effectively support sustainable PSS diffusion in the automotive industry, the paper suggests the integration of general policy measures (such as internalisation of external costs, extended producer responsibility programmes and informative policies), with the PSS-targeted ones (such as Green Public Procurement focused on sustainable PSS, support of companies in acquiring information related to PSS, support of demonstrative pilot projects). In addition, the paper suggests the necessity to involve actively universities and research centres

Newsletter / House of Finance, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt 4/10

Credit Rating Announcements – The Impact of the Agency’s Reason, Public Information, and M&A ; Toward a New European Financial Architecture in the Rating Sector – an Economic Analysis and Legal Solutions ; Where Finance Meets Macro ; Clear Enforcement rules for the Stability and Growth Pac

Newsletter / House of Finance, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt 3/09

Credit Rating Announcements – The Impact of the Agency’s Reason, Public Information, and M&A ; Toward a New European Financial Architecture in the Rating Sector – an Economic Analysis and Legal Solutions ; Where Finance Meets Macro ; Clear Enforcement rules for the Stability and Growth Pac

The happy few: the internationalisation of European firms

The 2007 report from the research network European Firms and International Markets (EFIM) is the first systematic, cross-country, firm-level research of the features of European firms that compete in international markets.

Is European climate policy the new CAP?

In its third phase (2013-20) the European Union's emissions trading system (ETS) will issue allowances for around two billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent each year. The emission rights are valued at around Â?30-35 billion at current prices, between one-half and two-thirds of the amount the EU spends on the Common Agricultural Policy. The redistributive effects of the allocation of emission allowances are therefore potentially significant. Quantitative indicators for the relative degree to which individual countries will be affected by the ETS suggest that economic consequences for the member states will be quite different. In this policy brief, Georg Zachmann finds that countries with less favourable initial conditions are eventually largely compensated. Click here here  to download the ETS indicators by country Bruegel also produced a video of the author Georg Zachmann commenting on the findings of his policy brief.Watch the video

European Working Time Directive and doctors' health: a systematic review of the available epidemiological evidence

Objective: To summarise the available scientific evidence on the health effects of exposure to working beyond the limit number of hours established by the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) on physicians. Design: A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed and EMBASE. Study selection, quality appraisal and data extraction were carried out by independent pairs of researchers using pre-established criteria. Setting: Physicians of any medical, surgical or community specialty, working in any possible setting (hospitals, primary healthcare, etc), as well as trainees, residents, junior house officers or postgraduate interns, were included. Participants: The total number of participants was 14 338. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Health effects classified under the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Results: Over 3000 citations and 110 full articles were reviewed. From these, 11 studies of high or intermediate quality carried out in North America, Europe and Japan met the inclusion criteria. Six studies included medical residents, junior doctors or house officers and the five others included medical specialists or consultants, medical, dental, and general practitioners and hospital physicians. Evidence of an association was found between percutaneous injuries and road traffic accidents with extended long working hours (LWH)/days or very LWH/weeks. The evidence was insufficient for mood disorders and general health. No studies on other health outcomes were identified. Conclusions: LWH could increase the risk of percutaneous injuries and road traffic accidents, and possibly other incidents at work through the same pathway. While associations are clear, the existing evidence does not allow for an established causal or ‘dose–response’ relationship between LWH and incidents at work, or for a threshold number of extended hours above which there is a significantly higher risk and the hours physicians could work and remain safe and healthy. Policymakers should consider safety issues when working on relaxing EWTD for doctors