Competition Policy and EU Governance

This paper focuses on competition policy in the European Union from an economic, micro-governance point of view. It analyses recent developments in economic governance in the field of the common competition policy, which had for a long time been the exclusive competence of the European Commission (Community method), notably the nature and governance implications of recent developments associated with single market integration, the 5th EU enlargement, and the workload backlog of the Commission. The common competition policy has been subject to various changes against the background of increasing market integration and the expansion of the single market (for instance, the European merger regulation and the liberalisation of network industries, regulated at the national level), most recently by the new institutional framework (EC regulation 1/2003 by the EU Council) which entered into force on the day of the EU’s fifth enlargement on 1 May 2004 and which implies the direct and parallel application of EU anti-trust laws by national competition authorities (NCA).These developments in terms of the economic governance of competition policy render it important to analyse the competences of NCAs with respect to the European Commission but also in regard to each other and to sectoral national regulators. The paper concludes that although the single market and competition policy had looked profoundly Europeanised in the Community sphere, single market integration has not led to parallel centralisation at the Community level but to decentralisation and that challenges as to legal uncertainty and consistency of application remain to be resolved.EU Competition Policy, European Union, Economic Governance, Regulation, European Union, Portugal

Is the “European Model” viable in a globalized world?

The issue of whether the 'European model' is viable in a globalized world raises the question as to what defines and conditions any European model and its competitiveness in the context of globalisation and the new economy. For the sake of sustainability of its model but also to sustain support for globalisation the European Union (EU) needs to take economic advantage of globalisation and the knowledge-based economy. Challenges in a high-cost, high-productivity economy mean that there is a premium on dynamic efficiency gains from the liberalisation and reform of markets and an economic and institutional framework that fosters innovation and flexible adjustment. The paper examines how the EU deals with governance issues and political economy factors from this perspective. The EU model, if able to legitimize itself with respect to the European integration process may as well contribute to a legitimate political governance of globalisation.Globalisation; Liberalisation; European regulatory model and economic integration; Preferential trade; Global and European Governance; European Union; Single Market; Lisbon Agenda.

TOWARDS A COMPETITIVE LOW-CARBON ECONOMY: ON FIRMS’ INCENTIVES AND THE ROLE OF PUBLIC RESEARCH

This paper considers the prerequisites for implementing a competitive low-carbon economy in the European Union from the point of view of firms’ incentives, the role of policy and the contribution of public research. It suggests that the reduction of the environmental impact of energy can be a new competitiveness factor. Rather than being treated as a constraint and cost-aggravating factor, addressing climate change can offer economic opportunity and contribute to growth. The paper looks at both static (energy efficiency) and dynamic (innovation – new products, processes, technologies or sectors and consumption patterns) dimensions of competitiveness.Economic competitiveness; low-carbon economy; energy; technology; and public research.

Is the ‘European Model’ viable in a globalized world?

The issue of whether the ‘European model’ is viable in a globalized world raises the question as to what defines and conditions any European model and its competitiveness in the context of globalization and the new economy. For the sake of sustainability of its model but also to sustain support for globalization the European Union (EU) needs to take economic advantage of globalization and the knowledge-based economy. Challenges in a high-cost, high-productivity economy mean that there is a premium on dynamic efficiency gains from the liberalization and reform of markets and an economic and institutional framework that fosters innovation and flexible adjustment. The paper examines how the EU deals with governance issues and political economy factors from this perspective. The EU model, if able to legitimize itself with respect to the European integration process may as well contribute to a legitimate political governance of globalization.Globalization; Liberalization; European regulatory model and economic integration; Preferential trade; Global and European Governance; European Union; Single Market; Lisbon Agenda.

Institutions, Governance and Economic Growth in the EU: is there a role for the Lisbon Strategy

In order to ensure that the internal market delivers (growth, jobs) in the face of a changing market and technological environment (internal market liberalisation, globalisation, the knowledge-based economy) and to take advantage of the opportunities that it presents, the European Union (EU) needs to create an adequate institutional framework that promotes its efficiency potential and adaptive capacity. In the reality of European mixed economies, its capacity to solve the structural problems that impair productivity and economic growth in Europe hinges very much on governance, in particular when reforms to realise international synergies and complementarities or policy-learning with a view to common goals involve not only the EU but as well the Member State level. The Lisbon Agenda can be considered an exercise of policy coordination that needs to ensure that Member States’ over-regulated economies comply both with liberalisation in the Single Market and with an adequate European-wide institutional environment for sustainable growth without coordination mismatches, protectionism and market segmentation. This ultimately raises the question, central to this paper, of the adequate governance level and of the regulatory model to adopt (systems competition and/or European regulation).Economic Integration; Governance; European Union; Single Market; Lisbon Agenda; Open method of coordination; Liberalisation; Regulatory model; Growth and competitiveness.

The Role of Overseas Chinese in Europe in Making China Global: The Case of Portugal

This paper aims at analysing the characteristics and dynamics of the Chinese business community in Portugal in the context of the growing phenomenon of Chinese migration flows to Portugal and to Europe. By means of original research based on primary data obtained through questionnaires and interviews applied to Chinese entrepreneurs and business associations the paper provides an in-depth analysis of the role that this community plays both as a facilitator of China’s integration in the world economy and a potential bridge between the European Union (EU) and China. The study concludes that the Chinese business community in Portugal is rather heterogeneous, dominated by immigrants from Zhejiang province, who operate predominantly in the service sector (retail and wholesale trade), taking advantage of the guanxi network within Europe so as to make use of the advantages of the European single market in order to consolidate competitive advantages. Moreover, this community plays a pro-active role in fostering China’s integration in the global economy by acting as windows for the penetration of Chinese exports on the one hand and by capturing and channelling foreign direct investment to China on the other hand.Chinese business community in Portugal; Overseas Chinese network (guanxi); EU Single Market; EU-China trade and investment relations

ESS plans and synergy with CERN

Summarized are properties of 10 MW ESS H- SC Reference Linac, as described in ESS Update Report 2003. Particles are either injected into 2 accumulator rings, resulting in 1.4 μs pulses sent to a short pulse target station, or 2 ms long pulses directed to a long pulse target station. The 10 MW, 1.334 GeV ESS H-linac is 570m in length, modular cryomodules are used above 400 MeV with separated warm quads. After winding up the ESS Council and the Technical Team by the end of 2003, the neutron scattering community wanted to keep ESS on the political table and demonstrate to young scientist that the struggle for ESS goes on. For this purpose, the ESS-Initiative ( ESS-I ) was formed to include the European Neutron Scattering Association (ENSA), various consortia for site candidatures and some key European laboratories. A major highlight was the successful promotion of ESS to be as a high maturity project on the European Road Map of Research Infrastructures, published in October 2006 by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). The ESS Preparatory Phase project has been accepted in the meanwhile after a very positive assessment and has been allocated 5 M€ EU support to investigate site independent technical items and answer legal, financial and governance questions, starting January 2008. ESS 07 will be a 5 MW LP source, the worlds first one to offer the unique capabilities of novel long pulse instruments for almost all of the most interesting areas of science and technology. ESS will be built in such a way that governments can decide later on during its lifetime to increase power and add more target stations, as the future scientific need would arise. The 5 MW, 1 GeV ESS H+ linac is similar to the ESS H- SC Reference Linac, but only 464m in length, as more intense H+ sources are available. ESS’s world lead would become even more pronounced, even when SNS would upgrade its power to, say, 3 MW, if the ESS beam power would be increased to 7.5 MW. This goal is achievable by enlarging the linac tunnel by 115m, which allows to add later on 16 cyromodules, and increasing the accelerating gradient in all SC cavities by 15 %. The H+ linac length of 579 m in this case would still not be larger than the ESS H- SC Reference Linac. Synergy with the CERN plans would require to avoid the funnel section at 20 MeV, leading to a 5 MW LP power at 2 GeV.Linac length is unchanged by using accelerating high gradient in SC cavities. SPL frequencies can be used, but components will differ, as ESS LP source requires high current and long pulses, whereas SPL linac is designed for high energy and high rep. rate

Transport in developing countries and climate policy: suggestions for a Copenhagen agreement and beyond

Also in the global South, transport already significantly contributes to climate change and has high growth rates. Further rapid motorisation of countries in Asia and Latin America could counteract any climate efforts and aggravate problems of noxious emissions, noise and congestion. This Paper aims at connecting the need for transport actions in developing countries to the international negotiations on a post-2012 climate change agreement. It outlines the decisions to be taken in Copenhagen and the preparations to adequately implement these decisions from 2013. Arguing, that a sustainable transport approach needs to set up comprehensive policy packages, the paper assesses the substance of current climate negotiations against the fit to sustainable transport. It concludes that the transport sector's importance should be highlighted and a significant contribution to mitigation efforts required. Combining the two perspectives lead to several concrete suggestions: Existing elements of the carbon market should be improved (e.g. discounting), but an upscale of the carbon market would not be an appropriate solution. Due to a lack of additionality, offsetting industrialised countries' targets would finally undermine the overall success of the climate agreement. Instead, a mitigation fund should be established under the UNFCCC and financed by industrialised countries. This fund should explicitly enable developing countries to implement national sustainable development transport and mobility policies as well as local projects. While industrialized countries would set up target achievement plans, developing countries should outline low carbon development strategies, including a section on transport policy. -- Die rasante Motorisierung Asiens und Lateinamerikas könnte die Klimaschutzerfolge konterkarieren. Bis 2030, so Prognosen der IEA, werden im Verkehrssektor 2,5 Gigatonnen CO2 mehr emitiert als heute; 80 Prozent davon in den Ländern des Südens. Das Papier soll die Notwendigkeit verdeutlichen, dass in den Entwicklungsländern im Verkehrssektor heute schon Maßnahmen ergriffen werden müssen und die Klimaverhandlungen für die Post-Kyoto-Phase eine wichtige Gelegenheit sind. Die Ansätze in den gegenwärtigen Klimaverhandlungen werden den Anforderungen einer nachhaltigen Verkehrspolitik gegenübergestellt und dafür plädiert, den Stellenwert des Verkehrssektors zu den Klimaschutzanstrengungen zu erhöhen. Dafür werden mehrere konkrete Vorschläge gemacht: So sollten vorhandene Elemente des Emissionshandels verbessert werden, die eigentlich angemessene Lösung sei jedoch ein neues Instrument: Um die Entwicklungsländer in die Lage zu versetzen Maßnahmen in der Verkehrspolitik umzusetzen und Politiken und Projekte vor Ort zu fördern, sollte ein von den Industrieländern finanzierter Klimaschutzfonds unter dem UN-Klimaregime eingerichtet werden. In Strategien für eine kohlenstoffarme Entwicklung sind dabei die Politikinstrumente einer nachhaltigen Verkehrsentwicklung zu integrieren.