Is better economic integration in the EU possible?

Abstract

In this paper it is argued that European integration has not fulfilled its chief economic promises. Output growth has been increasingly weak and unstable. Productivity growth has been following a decreasing trend. This sorry state of affairs is likely to continue. However, this outcome is not unavoidable. Moreover, the negative consequences implicit in the current architecture of the common currency could be neutralised. For this to happen, the basic paradigms of the economic policies to be followed in the European Union would have to be radically changed. First, the unconditional fiscal consolidation provisions still in force would have to be repelled. Second, ‘beggar-thy-neighbour’ (or mercantilist) wage policies would have to be ‘outlawed’.

European Entrepreneurship Reinforcement Policies in Macro, Meso, and Micro Terms for the Post-COVID-19 Era

“…To this end, a multilevel policy approach could be investigated, exploring macro-level aspects of the economy and society, the meso-level of localities and sectoral agglomerations, and the micro-level of firms and individuals (Baumannet et al, 2019;Peneder, 2017). In this context, the European Union's (EU) case can be an example of how public policies for entrepreneurship support are shaped and directed (Podkaminer, 2019). In the post-COVID-19 era and before reaching the -Europe 2020‖ development goals, Europe is forced to re-examine its focus (Grimaccia, 2020).…”