100 posts
European and global ICT standards and interoperability
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After the blog posts about a strategic vision for European standards and their importance ”everywhere”, plus one entry in Finnish about standards in the single market for services and one article in Swedish about creating new standards faster, we...
A rude awakening
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IN LESS than 24 hours, the French have been shaken out of their complacency over the state of their economy no fewer than three times. On November 5th, Louis Gallois, a left-leaning industrialist, unveiled a government-commissioned report on French c...
Compétitivité : les trois débats
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Authors: Jean Pisani-FerryUn seul suffirait au malheur du gouvernement. Mais sur la compétitivité, trois débats s’enchevêtrent : ils portent sur l’urgence d’une réponse ; sur la nature du mal ; et sur les solutions. Le prem...
EU:n komission työohjelma vuodelle 2013
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Tavallisille kansalaisille Euroopan unioni on jäänyt varsin etäiseksi ja tuntemattomaksi, joskin mielenilmaukset voivat olla vahvoja kun EU nousee kahvipöytäkeskustelun aiheeksi. Sitävastoin suuryritykset, etujärjestöt, alueet (osavaltiot)...
Genomförandet av EU:s tillväxt- och sysselsättningspakt
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Europeiska rådet den 28 till 29 juni 2012 (EUCO 76/1/12 rev 1 sv) antog en tillväxt- och sysselsättningspakt (se stycke 1 och bilagan från sidan 7). I slutsatserna den 18-19 oktober 2012 (EUCO 156/12) gör Europeiska rådet en bedömning av lä...
EU:n kasvu- ja työllisyyssopimuksen täytäntöönpano
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Kesäkuun 2012 Eurooppa-neuvosto hyväksyi kasvu- ja työllisyyssopimuksen (EUCO 76/12 päätelmien kohta 1 sekä liite sivulta 7). Lokakuun Eurooppa-neuvosto (EUCO 156/12) kehotti (itseään?) ohjelman ripeään ja päättäväiseen toimeenpanoon:...
Barroso on the Compact for Growth and Jobs
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As some other pre-democratic political entitities, the European Union has its own provisional government, called the European Council, with the Euro Summit as its shadow (not transparently explained or highlighted on the Eurozone portal). Herman Van...
Industrial competitiveness: centre-right politicians called to action
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Here is my ‘net take’ from the European Ideas Network (EIN) conference, where I was on a panel discussing industrial competitiveness. This fits well with current concerns about growth and job losses, as policy-makers try to think beyond t...
Commission's guidelines on state aid for firms in difficulty prolonged
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Commission prolongs guidelines on state aid for rescuing and restructuring firms in difficulty (see press release).
Too much benefits?
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After viewing Eurostat's "Government Finance Statistics" publication for 1/2012 in which all data concerning income, expenditure, debt, deficit, and much more were visible, what amazed me was the size of social benefits paid by each country in the EU...
Which EU countries are competitive? WEF answers
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The best new EU member states are about as competitive internationally as the so called PIIGS. After the think tank Bruegel dissecting Italy and Spain, we list all the members of the European Union for the convenience of readers in descending order a...
Bruegel on exports and firm growth in Europe
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Taken together, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain – the so called PIIGS - failed to improve their competitiveness rankings internationally. We glanced at the serious problems and their country profiles. Even if Estonia stalled, the Baltic...
Italy and Spain "must break down barriers to growth"
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Authors: Klaus Desmet, Loris RubiniThe current crisis afflicting the eurozone has brought the economic convergence between southern and northern Europe to a grinding halt. The Mediterranean countries are, once again, starting to fall behind. While th...
WEF global competitiveness: New EU members versus PIIGS
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As a whole, the so called PIIGS failed to improve their WEF global competitiveness rankings. Then we looked at the main obstacles and referred to the country profiles of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. Have the so called new EU member...
IP protection in the Global Competitiveness Report 2012-13
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Last Wednesday the World Economic Forum, a Swiss non-profit foundation based in Cologny, Geneva, which describes itself as "an independent international organisation committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political,...
USA Drops to Seventh in Global Competitiveness Behind FIVE European Nations and Singapore
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The Spiegel Online has an article about the Global Competitiveness Index recently released by the World Economic Forum which shows that the USA has dropped to seventh in the rankings behind FIVE European nations and Singapore. See Germany Overtakes...
To ensure Europe’s future competitiveness, policymakers must do more to integrate markets and remove the barriers that are holding back new firms and young innovators.
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Innovation is a key part of growth, especially in times of austerity. Reinhilde Veugelers argues that Europe’s future competitiveness depends on the active promotion of innovation based growth sectors. Policymakers now need to encourage innovation...
WEF competitiveness problems of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain (PIIGS)
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As a whole, PIIGS fail to improve WEF competitiveness rankings, but we need to go to the full World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 in order to study the country profiles of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. There...
PIIGS fail to improve WEF competitiveness rankings
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Soon after the blog post EU competitiveness and growth in times of crisis the World Economic Forum (WEF) published its latest assessment of countries and territories (144 in all): The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 (pdf, about 545 pages).
Competitiveness in Europe Shows Widening Gap According to World Economic Forum Study
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Stephen Castle has the story at the New York Times in Competitiveness Gap Widening in Europe, Study Finds.
Hungary Falls in Competitiveness Ranking
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Hungary saw its competitiveness ranking drop sharply in the most recent survey by the World Economic Forum, which counted it down over issues of policy instability, access to financing, regulations and inefficient government bureaucracy.
EU competitiveness and growth in times of crisis
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In the blog post Greetings from Craig Willy to Friends of Europe we saw that one of the three sessions of the conference The State of Europe: Escaping the doldrums - #StateofEU on Twitter - is dedicated to globalisation and headlined: Europe's place...
Eurobarometer and Europe 2020 strategy
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Regardless of if EU citizens can fathom who is accountable (to them) for handling the financial and economic crisis, the loss of international competitiveness in Europe requires growth-enhancing reforms. Links to posts about competitiveness and sing...
Working hours | Cometh the hour, cometh the (same) man | Blog
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Recently published EU research says that full-time workers are pulling longer shifts in the face of ongoing economic slump, but hours worked do not equal productivity, says Jason Walsh. A study performed by Eurofound, the European Union's labour rese...
David Lidington on Britain in the EU
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Daniel Hannan MEP smells an in/out EU referendum and British exit (Brixit) drawing closer, but is this return trip to tribal bliss the only vision on offer even in the United Kingdom? We start with a snippet about what the Great Britain wants to a...
EU debate in UK: promoting the Single Market inside or outside?
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Despite mental junk food dominating the EU debate in the UK, we found a few protagonists for a healthier diet. Even if the European Union is and should become an effective protagonist of security and prosperity for Europeans more widely, the commo...
The EU competitiveness challenge – from track & field to the economy
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The Olympic medal table has received intense attention from Britain over the last few weeks. I’m sure this was the case across Europe too – with half of the top ten places in the table awarded to European countries; as Simon Kuper in the FT comme...
The number one impairment towards competitiveness for Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece is
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Neither Austerity not Keynes is what South Europe needs the most, It's radical curbing of "polynomia" (over-legislation). To put it differently, the number one impairment towards competitiveness for Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece (and others) is...
Bridging the Gap: How Official Financing Can Ease the Pain of Adjustment
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As I step down from my position as Director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, I would like to share some reflections on one of the central issues facing many countries—adjustment under fixed exchange rates. It goes without saying that...
Urgent need for European competitiveness, growth and entrepreneurship
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Never ending eurozone dithering is not the only dark cloud. The Economist remarks that Europe has a growth crisis as well, due to its chronic failure to encourage ambitious entrepreneurs: European entrepreneurs – Les misérables. The article makes...
Competitiveness and the Single Market
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Europe has lost international competitiveness, the Europe 2020 growth reforms are not on track and the single market has still not reached its true potential. The problems are interrelated. We returned to the words from the European Council about t...
EU2020 competitiveness stars and flops
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The blog post EU Single Market deepening mentioned the World Economic Forum (WEF) competitiveness rankings of EU member states 2012. When we think about the crisis and the threats in the eurozone, is it only a coincidence that the WEF ranks Greece...
EU Compact for Growth and Jobs: Digital Single Market by 2015
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As Raiders of the Lost Competitiveness, at the European Council 28-29 June 2012 (EUCO 76/12) the heads of state or government agreed on a New Covenant: the Compact for Growth and Jobs (blog post here). The member states are supposed to return to st...
Tillväxt- och sysselsättningpakten – landsspecifika rekommendationer
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Sverige har både internationell konkurrenskraft och solida statsfinanser, men är ingen förkämpe för ett förenat Europa. Landsspecifika rekommendationer Tisdagen den 10 juli 2012 antar Ekofinrådet (ekonomiska och finansiella frågor) de lan...
Growth and jobs through Single Market reform
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Even if the former Cabinet member Liam Fox does not believe that Britain’s national interest is served by its current relationship with the European Union, he would still like to see Britain negotiate a new relationship with the EU based on economi...
EU Compact for Growth and Jobs
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The latest European crisis summit took some steps to address the deficiencies of the economic and monetary union (EMU) and to inspire reforms to restore European competitiveness. EUCO The European Council 28-29 June 2012 (EUCO 76/12) committed to...
Kilpailukyky ja pk-yritykset: EU:n COSME-ohjelma suomeksi
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EU:n kilpailukykyneuvoston kanta tulevan rahoituskauden COSME-ohjelmaan on julkaistu myös suomeksi: Ehdotus Euroopan parlamentin ja neuvoston asetukseksi yritysten kilpailukykyä ja pieniä ja keskisuuria yrityksiä koskevan ohjelman (COSME) peru...
COSME EU:s program för företagens konkurrenskraft och små och medelstora företag (2014–2020)
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En av de övergripande uppgifterna för EU:s råd är att småningom närma sig en gemensam syn på aktiviteterna och summorna i den följande fleråriga budgetramen 2014-2020. Kommissionens grundläggande förslag finns samlade här: (Multiannual) F...
COSME: EU:n yritysten kilpailukykyä ja pk-yrityksiä koskeva ohjelma 2014–2020
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Viimeksi hahmotin Euroopan unionin kasvuteemoja kirjoituksessa EU business and research issues (competitiveness). Koska EU:n kilpailukykyneuvoston alustavat päätelmät ovat edelleen tarjolla vain kolmella kielellä, jatkan englanninkielisen version...
EU Business and research issues (competitiveness)
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The Europe 2020 strategy and the Single Market Act, as well as research, development and innovation (RDI) efforts are crucial for European competitiveness, growth and jobs. We already glanced at some internal market (Single Market Act SMA) issues a...
"How to measure Competitiveness" by Stefan Collignon
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It is fashionable to blame lack of competitiveness for having caused the Euro-crisis. Yet, competitiveness is difficult to measure. The most common indicator is relative unit labour costs (ULC), i.e. the cost of labour compensation, including taxes a...
Competitiveness in Economy/Biz vs Sports
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Why do the sports clubs and national teams of the European periphery (in geographical terms), ie Eurozone and EU as well as European in general, tend to do so much better in European and world competitions compared to the majority of comp...
The potential for an alternative to the Merkozy way (Part 2: Competitiveness)
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This is a follow up to my post "The potential for an alternative to the Merkozy way (Part1)" of March 10, 2012. The so called "Fiscal Pact" or "Fiscal Compact", that Merkozy conceived and 25 of 27 states signed in early March is too rigid in sc...
EU2020 from failure to action
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The heads of state or government reminded themselves of the comprehensive Europe 2020 growth strategy. In the European Council 1-2 March 2012 conclusions (EUCO 4/12, available in 23 languages) they assessed their own work to date: 3. However, efforts...
Breathing life into EU2020 necessary for growth, competitiveness and employment
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After the European Council (EUCO) summary we noted a few key points in the intergovernmental Treaty on stability, coordination and governance in the economic and monetary union (TSCG, ”fiscal compact”) before discussing that the national leaders...
European digital agendas: Flanders in Belgium
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Last autumn I discussed the Digital Agenda for Europe, and I asked readers for information about corresponding information and communication (ICT) policy strategies at national level in the member states of the European Union (especially in English o...
How can we make Europe more competitive?
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The question of how to make Europe more “competitive” has come up several times on Debating Europe. Some of you blame the Euro for creating “massive imbalances in terms of competitiveness” between EU member-states (and suggest...
What is the EU doing for growth and jobs?
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The European Council has repeatedly endorsed and called for a Digital Single Market, as well as other growth reforms. This quote comes from the conclusions 9 December 2011 (EUCO 139/11; page 1, point 2): Recalling the key priority areas for growth it...
Europe's Digital Competitiveness Report 2010
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Competitiveness is as important as sustainable public finances for the member states of the European Union. Indeed, growth and jobs are key to higher revenue, less expenditure and better budget balance. Information and communication technology (ICT)...
EU2020 and Digital Agenda roundup: innovative and competitive Europe?
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Is Europe becoming more innovative and competitive, or is the EU in irreversible decline? Far too few seem to care. My latest blog posts in Finnish, Swedish and English have presented and discussed aspects of the Europe 2020 growth strategy (EU2020...
From counterfeiting and piracy to real competitiveness
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A short while ago I wrote a series of blog posts about the controversies regarding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA): IPR trade protection: ACTA controversy Innovation and competitiveness Then, I turned to innovation, competitivenes...
Denmark: Competitiveness challenges
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After Productive and sustainable Denmark as seen by the World Economic Forum (WEF), we look at what Denmark has planned in order to become even more innovative and competitive, in line with the aims of Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) for smart, sustain...
Productive and sustainable Denmark
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Three magic words: competitiveness, productivity, prosperity. Studying innovative and competitive independent countries, or states of the USA, much of the Europe 2020 growth strategy (EU2020) is about learning from the best. Before turning to the WEF...
EU2020: Learning from the best
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After the series about the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), I reported the publication of a new Digital Agenda for Sweden and then took a first look at policy outcomes in Denmark in the light of the competitiveness, growth a...
EU2020 and WEF: Competitiveness
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Just as the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) aims for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, the World Economic Forum (WEF) is increasingly trying to actually measure or assess ”quality growth”, especially sustainable growth. The 527 pages of the...
A Digital Agenda for Sweden
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On 6 October 2011 the government published an integrated IT strategy inspired by the Digital Agenda for Europe 2010-2020, which is a part of the EU2020 growth strategy: A Digital Agenda for Sweden. In English we find the government newletter: Sweden...
EU reforms: Emulate Sweden!
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The blog post Sweden in Europe: Carl Bildt and Anders Borg stress EU unity presented some views of two Swedish government ministers about the future of the European Union and how to overcome the financial and economic crisis. One of the reasons to...
European Central Bank offers economic policy advice
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Eurozone woes seem to be going nowhere, but there are different angles regarding the causes and remedies. The blog post Economic policy making becomes challenging mentioned the latest reports from the European Commission: Directorate-General for Econ...
WEF: PIIGS competitiveness rankings
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Thinking about the long term prospects for the eurozone and its members. The World Economic Forum offers us fresh insight. The Global Competitiveness Index 2011-2012 rankings for the so called PIIGS are (out of 142 countries and territories): Portuga...
Konkurrenskraften och eurokrisen väcker frågor
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De senaste inläggen i EU2020-strategins och den digitala agendans kölvatten berörde konkurrenskraften (i kunskapssamhället). Dem publicerade jag på Grahnlaw Suomi Finland ”European ICT competitiveness roundup” och på Grahnlaw ”Wealth of N...
