Economist European Union articles

agreement that would allow any EU or American airline to operate flights between anywhere in Europe and anywhere in America. But although American airlines are already allowed to operate routes within Europe, European airlines would not be granted a reciprocal privilege within America.

How much does the European Union really encourage competition? The commission has proposed breaking up national gas and electricity behemoths around Europe into separate companies for the transmission and retail ends of the business (this is known in EU jargon as “ownership unbundling”). For the past two years the commission has been selling itself as the embodiment of economic modernisation. The biggest problem has long been the ability of national governments to squash the commission's more competitive instincts.

A lousy deal for passengers in America; but time for Europe to accept second-best

A rich man should choose his bride from a country with a stingy divorce law, such as Sweden or France, and marry her there. Second, he should draw up a pre-nuptial agreement. These are binding in many countries and have begun to count even in England. Third, once divorce looms, a wife may want to move to England or America (but should avoid no-alimony states such as Florida); for husbands, staying in continental Europe is wise.

The commission reckons that since 1992 it has boosted member states' output by 2.2% and has created 2.75m extra jobs. Firms may have gone European, but Europeans continue to shop, invest and work at home. The average west European country (ie, excluding new member states) spends 86% of its income on goods and services made or provided at home, and only 10% on goods from elsewhere in the EU. Complying with EU red tape—supposedly €600 billion annually—outweighs the single market's benefits.

Take a recent survey by the European Venture Capital Association (EVCA). Over the past three years, it says, tax policies and legal codes have become more favourable to private equity and venture capital in most European countries. Some places, such as Spain, that looked quite uninviting to such investors just a few years ago are now rather hospitable. Perhaps the survey's biggest surprise is the second place awarded to France, a country often regarded as a bastion of anti-capitalist sentiment. The EVCA notes “remarkable improvements” in the way French laws and taxes treat its members in the past four years.

The debate over climate change has opened a cultural rift in Europe about politicians' personal behaviour. The northern view is that the responsibility to set a good example is part of a politician's job. If a new leader decides to change his party's policy to make it greener, it is incumbent on him to be seen going to work on a bicycle (even if a car is following with all his papers).

In the post-cold-war model of saving the world, conflicts will be suppressed, and countries rebuilt, by alliances of alliances. International bodies will move into a conflict zone and parcel out the problem according to their expertise. The United Nations will supply legitimacy; NATO will break the furniture; the European Union will organise a trip to the nearest IKEA and provide development and political support; the Council of Europe will monitor elections; and the World Bank and assorted NGOs will do their thing.

Even if European business has to operate in a difficult political, social and economic environment, it has produced an impressive crop of world-class companies. An analysis by McKinsey, shows that Europe has 29% of the world's leading 2000 or so companies, broadly in line with its 30% share of world GDP. It punches its weight in most global industries except IT, where America is leagues ahead.

The European Union might adopt different categories of membership, with gradations of responsibility. For one thing, it works. We know this because while the EU likes to pretend everyone will eventually sign up for everything, in practice it has developed the euro (legal tender in 13 countries of 27); the Schengen agreement for passport-free travel (15 countries implement this, including three non-EU states); and the arrangement by which Britain, France and Germany speak for everyone in dealing with Iran.

Denmark, unlike Germany, France or Italy, is now a genuine economic success story: fast growth, rising incomes, unemployment at a 30-year low. A recent Eurobarometer poll concluded that Danes were the happiest people in Europe. The country’s economic and social model is the envy of its neighbours. That leaves only limited scope for bitterness towards Brussels.

The Europeans and Americans look serious about a farm-trade deal. The optimism turns on two magic numbers: 17 and 54. If the Americans cap their trade-distorting farm subsidies to $17 billion a year, the Europeans might try to cut their agricultural tariffs by 54% or thereabouts.

Holocaust denial is profoundly wrong. But should it be illegal? Asked why the EU proposed to pass a law about the genocide victims of one of 20th-century Europe's totalitarian ideologies (fascism) but not the other (communism), Ms Zypries replied it was just a matter of timing. By implication, the EU will one day propose banning gulag-denial too. This may seem fine, but sooner or later genocide-denial laws end up restricting expressions that might cause ethnic or religious offence. They can quickly result in a lot of speech-restricting laws.

A new economic history. Barry Eichengreen makes a strong case that Europe did not start from scratch after the war. A good deal of physical capital remained; and of the roads, railways and factories that had been destroyed, much could be quickly rebuilt. By 1947, industrial production had surpassed 1938 levels, if Germany is left out of the European average; by 1948, production was as high as it had been a decade earlier even if Germany is included. The continent also had plenty of what economists call human capital and the rest of us call skilled and educated people.

Protectionism hampers the reform of Europe's postal services. In countries with open markets, the former monopolists have remained dominant. In Britain the Royal Mail has 96.5% of the market; in Sweden Posten AB has 91.5%. Regulators do not expect big changes in either country. Indeed, some advocates of liberalisation worry that open postal markets will fail to attract new entrants and that eliminating the reserved area will not guarantee competition.

Fill the democratic deficit. The European Parliament contains 189 national parties. It may not propose, but only scrutinise, most legislation. It has virtually no powers in the areas you might think most important, such as migration. Unlike elsewhere, uncompleted laws do not lapse when its term ends, but simply resurface next time around. Two-thirds of votes are taken by a show of hands, producing North Korean-style majorities of 80% and more. And the parliament—to no discernible purpose other than French national pride—continues its habit of migrating from Brussels to an expensive building in Strasbourg for four days a month. There is no EU government for parliament to hold accountable. And there is no connection between policy and voters' choices.

Germany's role in Europe is changing. It is often said that the EU's inexorable enlargement means no country can now “make the weather” in Europe, as Germany and France once did. That is true, but the growth of the club still leaves Germany first among an increased number of equals.

In its review of EU energy policy, the commission calls for “ownership unbundling”—the legal separation of energy suppliers and transporters. This is bad news for EDF, E.ON, Gaz de France, a French gas company, and RWE, another German energy firm. They are all vertically integrated. Yet as a sop to France and Germany, which are staunchly opposed to dismantling their national energy champions, such firms have been given the option to separate the management of their grids, rather than sell them outright.

European Union leaders want to move on from arguing about enlargement to arguing about a revived constitution

How more official languages could eventually mean less diversity

Improving regulation is a tortuous process, as new chemical rules show

The obstacles in the way of Turkey's membership of the European Union get ever more daunting

Political and business interests collide as Europe's energy firms consolidate

The European Commission insists, belatedly, on tighter emissions caps

It is, alas, easier to influence candidates for entry than those now in the club

The government's incompetence, at home and abroad, may be starting to undermine its popular support

Europe and Russia want to forge a new formal partnership agreement, but neither is ready

Europe's flagship environmental programme is foundering

Slovenia eyes a rare moment of glory

Attitudes to the single market are changing, perhaps for the worse

A European Union of 27 gets harder to run

Russia's “near abroad” is becoming Europe's neighbourhood

Brussels targets a quaint German monopoly

There may be serious fall-out from Turkey's present poor relationship with both the European Union and America

Developments in America matter less than those at home—or in Asia

The EU's proposed rules for internet video are out of tune with the times

How Europe uses and abuses its brainpower

The European Commission hatches new trade plans

Lessons from a thumbs-up to new members and a thumbs-down to majority voting in judicial matters

Immigration is a Europe-wide concern. It is not clear, though, that it needs a European solution

A tale of high-tech contamination in the bins of Arkansas

Europe's financial sector is ill prepared for a coming upheaval

It's not Thatcherism or Reaganomics—but it is a start

Europe's move toward more open financial markets makes sense, but the details are troubling

Doubts over sending troops to Lebanon say much about the European Union's aspirations to play a bigger role in the world

The European Commission's revamped merger policy is thrown into doubt

The European Commission moves to regulate the cost of mobile calls abroad

David Cameron faced the first crisis of his leadership. And guess what? It was about Europe

European officials think it should be cheaper to clear and settle share trades

Europe is right to play technological catch-up with America, but not with big public projects

Rules for international charges for mobile phones make sense; being heavy-handed does not

The remaining protective rings around Europe's savings banks are under attack

Europe and America can't save the world together, but they can do useful things

The annual report of the European Union as a club

David Cameron's European problem has not gone away

Should there be “more Europe” in the provision of law and order?

A transatlantic deal on information transfer is struck down

One year after the French non and the Dutch nee, it is time to bury the EU constitution

Twelve months after the French and Dutch said no, the European Union has yet to rediscover its purpose

A small step towards seamless cross-border banking

Helmut and Jacques, they're not

Europe's slow progress in combining to fight tax cheats

Europe's quandary over Russian gas

The EU hopes to slash the price of cross-border mobile calls

Another sorry chapter in Europe's chronicle of unintended consequences

In a multipolar neighbourhood, the European Union is losing its will to attract

Some remedial lessons are needed for European leaders

European leaders gathering at next week's summit should stop and ask how bad things are

The European Union wants a new energy policy. Should it have one?

A wave of cross-border mergers in Europe provokes a nationalist backlash

Why the forces of economic nationalism seem weaker than those of globalisation

Should the European Union have a defence budget?

Europeans, as George Bush might say, misunderestimate services

The evidence argues in favour of lifting all restrictions on labour migration from the new members of the European Union

The four freedoms on which the European Union is based are under threat

Concerns about security have driven the liberalisation of Europe's energy market into reverse

Fashionable talk of a “European culture” is pointless and may even be damaging

The chances of economic reform in Europe may be better than many believe

Rows over Cyprus bedevil Turkey's hopes of European Union membership

Polish protectionists take on the European Commission

Iran provides a test of both Europe's “soft power” and its relationship with hard power

France no longer knows where it wants the European Union to go

What part of “no” do European integrationists not understand? Every part, apparently

A fractious and lengthy meeting strikes a budget deal that answers almost no questions about the future

Why the EU budget compromise is worse than no deal at all

Is Tony Blair's European policy in tatters? Not really

A long-awaited court ruling has big implications for European companies

It is time to rethink the entire European Union budget

The European Union is not as powerful a global economic actor as its leaders sometimes pretend

Tony Blair has ducked the challenge of reforming the European Union's finances

Why the European Union retains its strange fondness for farm subsidies

How Tony Blair may, yet again, follow in Margaret Thatcher's footsteps

The EU's awkward efforts to reform its southern neighbours

The EU's internal-market commissioner wants fewer, but more consumer-oriented, new regulations for financial services

Why the Americans are happy and the British are moaning

A piece of European legislation that will affect industry across the world

The beleaguered president of the European Commission

The continent's transformation during its post-war period has earned a colossal new history

One market, one profit, 25 taxmen

European agriculture is feeling beleaguered

Like those ancient songsters, the European Union can warn and lament—but not act

Why the return of product placement is nothing to worry about

Europe's demographic disaster is self-inflicted but not terminal

The European Commission has been left alone to explain the merits of globalisation

Europe's social policies offer a heady and intoxicating mixture

One giant step across Europe may find few imitators

Europeans could learn to live quite happily with less of the vision thing

Peter Mandelson does not emerge well from the bra wars

How the EU got into difficulty

Chinese clothing imports pile up at Europe's borders

Charlemagne retires, in some confusion

Why cultural biases may be the ultimate trade barrier

The grand duchy says yes, but the European Union constitution is still dead

The last thing the European Union needs is more visionary leadership

The EU is to let some countries persist with national bans on GM food crops

The European Union's fears of China encapsulate its ambivalence over globalisation

Beeting a retreat

Introducing the Louis XVI prize, for being out of touch

The French president blames Britain for the Brussels bust-up

Death to the constitution, but watch out for another grubby deal on the EU budget

A consensus on Europe should be good for Labour and the Tories, but there are dangers ahead for both

The right response to the summit setback should be a thorough debate about the EU's future

The European Union has been expanding by leaps and bounds. Robert Cottrell asks what happens if it stops

The uncanny parallels between a summit and a battle

A bluffer's guide to the European summit's squabble over the budget

European leaders should be debating the Union's future, not squabbling over money

After the French and Dutch referendums, questions about the durability of the single currency

The European Parliament is the big loser from the rejection of the EU constitution

The Swiss accept Schengen, but a tougher vote on labour migration lies ahead

Europe's leaders are slowly coming to terms with the death of the constitution, but they continue to fight over money

While Europhiles flounder after the first no vote by a founder member, the latest crop of European books offers reasons for reflection

The clash of the two Microsofts

How Britain unexpectedly emerged victorious from votes on the EU constitution

The country with most to lose from the EU referendums may be Turkey

How the French referendum may play into German politics

An even bigger no than in France fosters talk of more referendums in future

Political prospects for a new French government

Voters in France and the Netherlands have killed the EU constitution

France's president has wasted ten years, devoted mainly to a search for scapegoats

The Europe that died. And the one that should live on

Should Europe's trade policies continue to afford privileges to its former colonies?

A welcome infusion of new aid, and a useful debate

So whose bright idea was it in the first place?

An old political act is harder to play

The prime minister is spoiling for a fight over Europe. But not at home

No would be the right answer in the French and Dutch referendums—and a good one for Europe

Is France, the country that helped to invent European integration, about to undo it?

Britons are moving towards European working habits

The parallels between the Eurovision song contest and the European Union

A tricky exclave and what it says about Russia

The island keeps foiling outside efforts to bring peaceful reunification

Stemming the flood of Polish workers

Russia's awkward position in Europe's jigsaw

When Javier met Condi

A French no would lead to a nasty period for the European Union

How the EU trade commissioner, ran into a spot of bother

Shifting alliances among new members of the European Union

How corrupt is Brussels?

The subsidy row between America and Europe is becoming an eternal triangle

A transatlantic row (again) over aircraft subsidies could jeopardise the global trade talks

The European Union's biggest military operation, in a place of previous foreign-policy failure

France, Germany and Italy are the biggest obstacles to economic reform in Europe

Dislike of the government could overshadow the EU vote in May

The Communists win, but look west

The Franco-German-led rejection of the services directive

Environment: New European rules will force electronics firms to eliminate toxic substances and take back and recycle their products

The impact of central Europe's tax revolution

A quarrel over the EU budget could become the sleeper issue in referendums on the EU constitution—especially Britain's

Are NATO and the European Union partners or rivals?

An election victory for moderation in north Cyprus, but still dismayingly little progress towards reunification

Widely different expectations of the transatlantic partnership were on display during the American president's visit to Europe

Why the heck is the European Union planning to sell more arms to China?

Why Europe will run the 21st century

The European Commission tells Italy to open its banking market

A Maoist-turned-Eurocrat who learned his democratic lessons the hard way

Tony Blair is an admirer of Margaret Thatcher. That should help him learn from her biggest mistake

A new crusade against state aid

The European Commission puts the economy first

Why banning Nazi symbols across Europe would be a bad idea

Why taxes should be left to national governments

The European Union's courtship of China—and its implications for America

How the new central European members learnt to stop worrying and love the European Union

The European Union presidency passes to its smallest member

Could the software giant's bundling strategy be coming apart?

A new outbreak of optimism about the European Union—from across the Atlantic, no less

The EU has one rule for big countries, another for small, claims Portugal

Lifting its arms ban on China will do the EU no credit

At last, ministers reach a compromise on cross-border merger rules

The European Union has missed another opportunity to make its economy more competitive

The European Union's new members observe Ukraine anxiously

Peter Mandelson is Europe's new trade tsar. Relations with America will determine his success

The chancellor says British companies are badly treated in Europe

The competition for the right foreign-policy vision for the European Union

Might George Bush be a handmaiden in the building of a European superpower?

Europeans indulge in a spot of self-flagellation

More jaw-jaw

Finally, there is a pan-European debate—but it may not help the EU

The new head of the Brussels executive has dashed hopes of a storming start

How independent are the civil-society organisations beloved by the European Commission?

The row over Rocco Buttiglione's nomination to be the European Commissioner for justice and home affairs continues

The continuing rumble over international accounting standards

The trouble with confirmation hearings for commissioners

The economic boom that spawned the “Celtic Tiger” has transformed Ireland. But, asks John Peet, can it last?

What central Europe can learn from Ireland

Why European companies may not lose out to their American rivals under the Kyoto treaty on greenhouse-gas emissions

The delicate politics of language recognition

Those strange European countries that have kept out of the European Union

The post-Olympic glow fades amid a new budget squabble

Low labour costs matter more than low corporate taxes in central Europe

Ageing populations will hurt Europe's economies and put pressure on budgets—and there are no easy solutions

Why scrapping the EU's ban on arms sales to China would be a mistake

The European Union has achieved much, but it may now be pushing up against its limits, says Gideon Rachman

Circumlocutions make it hard for Europeans to communicate

Court rulings are forcing the pace of EU tax harmonisation

Neelie Kroes must work hard to match her predecessor's zeal

The new Eurocrats are market-minded folk—but not everything suits Britain

The EU legislature is powerful but it has failed to generate much enthusiasm

New versus old Europe

A surprisingly sceptical Netherlands has just taken over the European Union presidency

The European Commission thinks Britain should pay more

Europe's energy markets are struggling towards freedom. But they are not there yet

The Europeans' soft approach to Iran seems to have failed

Jos� Manuel Dur�o Barroso, the next European Commission boss, will have to fight hard for a liberal economic agenda in Brussels

The new president of the European Commission must be his own man

An increasingly desperate search for a European Commission boss

Jacques Chirac contemplates his own loneliness

After 30 years of economic and political success, Spain is entering a new phase of democratic development, says John Grimond

Finally, an agreement. Now the hard part

Gerhard Schr�der's ruling Social Democrats plumb new depths

A surprisingly poor performance by the opposition

A bad result for Jacques Chirac's governing party

Few voters, and those who turned out were anti-government or anti-EU

The European elections were marked by apathy and anger

Michael Howard has chosen his battlefield for the next election, and it isn't Europe

Why, after such awful local and European election results, the talk of getting rid of the prime minister has dissipated

Europe's politicians should heed their voters' dissatisfaction

Contrary to expectations, this week's elections could be the making of the European Parliament

The cure for Europe's democratic deficit lies at home, not in Brussels

Harder to be Irish

How parliament's expenses abuse is helping one MEP's campaign

Behind the smiles for the cameras, the Franco-German relationship is more fragile than meets the eye

Voters are right to be apathetic about next week's elections

It's odd that Britain's 87 MEPs have managed to stay out of the public eye

Arguments over majority voting in the European Union

The damage that the UKIP could do to the Tories

The EU's attempt to harmonise patent law is in a mess

Still a troubled relationship with the EU

Our form-guide for the race to be next EC president

The European Union tries to revive the Doha round of trade talks

Looking for ways to please a new friend

An empty seat for Poland at the next EU summit?

Over the next year, Poland's political climate could turn unsettled

The many meanings of a trans-Atlantic trade deal

Why Tony Blair is right to propose a national referendum on the draft EU constitution

The disintegrating EC

If the commission president wants to play Italian politics, he should resign

Tony Blair thought he could change Britain's relationship with Europe. It's not his fault he's failed

Might the European Commission's controversial new antidote to Microsoft's monopoly actually work?

New rules on transfer prices and debt, new compliance costs. Blame the EU

Is the EU ruling against Microsoft merely a case of history repeating itself? Actually, no

Spain's new government shifts the balance in the European Union

The forward march of European integration seems in peril

The Union's tentative triumvirate will alienate others

Strategists in Brussels no longer talk sweetly of encircling the enlarged EU with a “ring of friends”

The gloom of a much-lauded ex-president of the European Commission

Why ambitious young politicians are leaving the European Parliament

Troubles over the site of a new EU body

Britain seeks to make the Franco-German couple a threesome

The start of two years of argument over the European Union budget

The greed and corruption of MEPs

The European Court of Justice emerges blinking into the limelight

Runners and riders for top European jobs

The mysteries of the European Union's rotating presidency

The history and future of the German-Polish relationship

An unexpected cloud over the new EU presidency

The idea of a united Europe stretches back thousands of years. The early enthusiasts were seldom as high-minded as their modern successors

The joys and the heartaches of European Council meetings

Why the ambitious regions of Europe have lost faith in Brussels

Progress, economic and political, is a subtle theme of this expert account

How Europe's single market makes boozing cheaper

Europe's stability pact meets national sovereignty

Continental Euroscepticism meets conventional Euro-enthusiasm

Europe's proposed chemicals regulations are less nasty than feared

It has struggled back to life, but to what end?

What really unites Europe are faded imperial memories

A slow, lingering death

London bankers complain about proposed European share-trading rules

The euro's deficit rules are apparently unenforceable yet unchangeable

The French are increasingly ambivalent about Europe—and their place in it

Has Mario Monti been tough enough on the French government?

Sweden's rejection of the euro spells danger for the European Union

Will Europe's leaders ever start listening to their citizens?

The European Commission is heading for trouble

An explosive row over how to protect intellectual property in Europe

Swedes look ready to reject a switch to the euro. Danes would welcome one, but are not so sure about the new European constitution

An insider explains how millions go missing

The curious cabalistic language of those who run the European Union

Are the EU's financial controls so exasperating that they force its own staff to evade them?

Are Swedes and NGOs dictating Europe's chemicals regulation?

Europe's governments are wriggling free of its constraints

Behind Silvio Berlusconi's antics, has Italy's attitude to the European Union changed more deeply?

The big questions about the European Union are explored in a clear and lively written book by Loukas Tsoukalis

The European Union's new rules on genetically modified foods could worsen its trade dispute with America

Can Europe's agriculture deal revive the world trade talks?

For the Tories, the EU is both a continuing temptation and a trap to be avoided

Is the European Union all that stands between the old continent and war?

Silvio Berlusconi makes an absurd start to Italy's presidency of the European Union

Italy's prime minister is a bad joke, abroad as well as at home

Ever closer political union could mean ever louder criticism of “Brussels”

The European Union's farm reforms need to go a lot further and faster

Cruel and unusual punishment for Europe's diplomats

EU foreign ministers talk tough, for a change. Iran will be their first test

France's support for Europe's wasteful common agricultural policy is indefensible

The rash of strikes in France and discontent among Germany's trade unions are both hopeful signs

George Bush is blasting Europe's aid policies, while touting America's

Europe's not-so-rapid-reaction force

A single European market in asset management is still a long way off

Will the latest blocking of a takeover directive wreck the entire initiative?

Different standards of probity across the continent pose a problem for the European Union

The European Union's powers are quietly but steadily growing

Polish-American diplomacy may be deepening the divisions in Europe—or paving the way to a post-Iraq rapprochement

The Italian prime minister is not the man to speak for the European Union

The United States has unfamiliar doubts about the merit of European integration

The president of the EU's constitutional convention has produced his proposals. And a noisy row he has set off

A letter home from a participant at a European summit in Athens has fallen into our hands

The aftermath of the Iraq war could turn NATO and the European Union into rivals

Is the EU's modest force in Macedonia a harbinger of bigger things to come?

Anti-Europeans have high hopes of Tony Blair. They're in for disappointment

Some people are asking whether European Union cash for poor regions is always useful

The widening Atlantic

The Iraq crisis may determine the future of European relations with the United States

Trade and the single party

Why is Europe growing so slowly?

The European Union is becoming an English-speaking zone

France's high-risk diplomacy is in danger of hurting France itself

Europe's leaders are all gambling for high stakes over Iraq

Europeans should keep trying to co-operate where they can

Europeans cannot agree on the future of cross-border financial supervision

France and Germany can no longer call the shots

Are the reformists being outflanked, even on relations with America?

An end to tax-free saving for many Europeans

The European Union is sending conflicting signals about its commitment to agricultural reform

The European Union's small countries should stop whining. They get a fantastic deal out of the EU

The latest Franco-German agreement on the future of Europe causes consternation in Brussels and relief in London

The latest compromise presented by France and Germany is a recipe for confusion

Why are Israelis and Europeans getting on so badly?

The European Union's institutional dynamism is marred by its economic sloth

The EU's keen Greek presidency] Greece's leader has high hopes for its EU presidency but faces big problems

Russia's separated sons feel out in the soon-to-be EU cold

The enlargement agreed at Copenhagen leaves plenty still to be done

An extraordinary plan to kick awkward members out of the European Union

Why subversive thoughts are frowned upon in the would-be capital of Europe

France and Germany are trying to get back into the EU's driving seat

Energy in Europe] At last, a single market. Maybe

Horse-trading on EU-wide prospectus rules could have a perverse outcome

Banning cod fishing won't cause the economic disaster the fishermen claim

The European Commission's merger regime is under attack. Mario Monti, the competition commissioner, offers his response

It's not Tony Blair who finds himself angry and isolated in Europe these days

Not much longer will EU summits flit from resort to resort. But one old habit lives again: the Franco-German axis

Well, they're talking, but a joint “European army” is still far away

Europe's competition policy needs clearer guidelines and better administration

Many people now agree that the EU's budgetary rules are dangerously inflexible. But just try changing them

Ireland's voters have given the green light to EU enlargement. But EU members are not entirely at one with each other, let alone with all the candidate countries

These are not the best of times for the European Union. Here's why

The European Union is now formally embarking upon enlargement. For Central Europeans, however, the end of history may prove disappointing

However their referendum on the Nice treaty goes, Ireland's voters plainly have doubts about the EU. Why?

Can the EU find a way round?

Creeping economy, chaotic foreign policy, loth to reform or democratise: who'd join the EU?

A growing spat between the EU and the Swiss

The common agricultural policy should be scrapped, not defended

This time the Irish seem likely to say yes. But you can't yet bank on them

Britain is throwing down an antitrust gauntlet to Brussels

When the going gets rough, Europe's bigger nation-states still go their own way

After all, an entirely new system of running a continent may be afoot

The pope didn't visit Poland to play politics, but he couldn't help it

Some of the 12 countries that use the euro are struggling to stick to the strict fiscal policies that they have signed up to. Will they change the rules instead?

The European Commission has proposed ways to reform Europe's wasteful and protectionist common agriculture policy. Expect stiff opposition

Europe must not put off reforming the common agricultural policy

Portugal's public deficit ] Last year's deficit broke the rules. Ought this year's government to be punished?

Can the European Union's canny agriculture commissioner reform its ghastly farms policy?

The EU's Seville summit was a non-event. But action on enlargement will have to come

One bit of Russia will soon be surrounded by the EU

In most of Europe, privatisation has been more about raising money than promoting enterprise

Ignoring America, Europe ploughs its own Iranian furrow. Slowly

Will it take a unique chance to reform itself?

European leaders say they want harmonious EU action against illegal immigration. In reality, nearly all governments are still sticking to policies of their own

The Danes say other Europeans may copy their immigration rules. Really?

A good week for deal-makers in the European Union

The ideas of Britain's former leader still provoke hostility and admiration across the continent

The row over who should catch Europe's fish, and where, is not over

Europe's bigger nation-states will turn their guns on Brussels's latest plan for ever closer union

A test of passion in Madrid

A shocking row is shaking Europe's bureaucracy

Bleak prospects for reforming Europe's drug market

America's monstrous new farm bill could wreck any chance of further trade liberalisation

Europe and America always have plenty of trade rows. Steel is only the latest. But farm subsidies could yet do the most damage of all

The EU's Romano Prodi annoys Britain

A tug-of-war over regulating Europe's investment services

Spain's fishing fleet is the EU's biggest. Too big for the fish—or the EU

Lady Thatcher's fiery anti-Europeanism has turned her new book from a stately memoir into a polemic

Some influential Frenchmen rather like the idea, but other Europeans are doubtful

Europe's quest for more liberal economies is slow and contradictory

The subtle art of getting round EU rules

The best way to help European firms is to make it easier for them to fail

The European Union has long been in two minds about Turkey's candidacy for membership. So, increasingly, are some fed-up Turks

Is the spate of elections in Europe this year going to alter the region's economic prospects?

How the European Commission evaluates aid] A row in Brussels

Laborious efforts towards a single market

The European Union summit in Barcelona will test the credibility of its economic-reform programme

America must soon decide whether to deal with terrorists and weapons of mass destruction in partnership with Europe, or alone

The start of a long debate on how to reshape Europe

Europe knows its fiscal rules have failed. Instead of fixing them, it fudged

Germany escapes an EU reprimand for its big budget deficit

Germany's budget deficit is getting fearfully close to the point when it would trigger huge fines

Europe's awkward squad seems to be growing in number

The European Commission's new rules will loosen car makers' hold on dealers

In search of a new vice-president

No and yes: Italy will remain committed to the EU, but it will fight harder for its national interests

Why it matters who runs the European Parliament

Both countries have long been the motors of the European Union. But neither half of the partnership is firing on all cylinders today

EU trade worth hundreds of millions of euros rests on the answer

The union must make its purpose plainer

The proposed warrant raises issues that go wider than crime

Silvio Berlusconi's hostility to the EU-wide arrest warrant may have changed Italy's attitude to Europe

The European Commission's effort to update its controversial rules governing mergers may bring some improvements. But it is not going far enough

Must national vetoes go if the European Union is to function?

Europe must liberalise faster if it is to reap the full benefits of the euro

Mr Prodi is being attacked for the wrong reasons

The euro-area economy is probably shrinking, and recovery will be slow

The ECB is pragmatic, after all

The European Union's military ideas are getting bigger. Will it pay for them?

He talks loudly—but lacks a stick

Microsoft and the EU] The European Commission has been quietly building its antitrust case

The campaign against terror has exposed the problems of building a common European foreign policy

David Calleo has written an admirably detached study of the European Union

Despite promises in Lisbon last year, many industries remain far from free

The European Union's aid programme to Albania is a shambles

The head of the European Commission is losing his cool

Kjell Bondevik lays down his terms to his coalition partners

Europe's strange business regulations] The EU's new directive on vibrations is bad for your company's health

Would Britain be committing “economic suicide” if it left the European Union?

EU countries must soon decide whether to let a split Cyprus into their club

European competition law is proving beneficial to Sweden’s drinkers

Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are close to joining the European Union and, perhaps, NATO too. How ready are they?

A growing row over intellectual-property rights

The European Commission's foreign-affairs man has plenty of rivals for his turf

The EU family spreads its wings

The European Union is looking for a new, charming image for its home town

Two books attempt to explain the significance of the Nice Treaty

The unintelligible EU

A few enthusiasts want a special EU tax, to make the EU more popular

The Belgians, that is, now in the European Union’s chair

Mario Monti has blocked the biggest-ever industrial merger. Now he needs to put his own house in order

He has his finger on a nuclear button

Are its own politics a splendid example to the EU—or an awful warning?

Efforts to make it easier for companies to be taken over in Europe have fallen at the last minute

A ruling against America aggravates the tensions

The EU spends euro2.25 billion a year subsidising olives. It shouldn’t

The rioters did make the leaders look more remote

Stirring words bring eastern countries no closer to membership than before

The City of London is unhappy with two proposed EU directives

A new directive has unions cheering and company bosses fuming

The European Union’s greed for West Africa’s fish

On his first visit to their continent, George Bush told European leaders that he is no unilateralist. And that they will just have to get used to it

Britain’s new foreign secretary is a very English Englishman

Critics of the EU treaty ran a strong campaign, its backers a lousy one

The no vote in Ireland’s referendum on the Nice treaty has disturbing implications for the European Union

Can it work and be popular?

For all their squabbles, America and Europe are not alien worlds. They still have lots in common

At the Nice summit in December, leaders of the European Union set out to improve the Union’s decision-making rules. They seem to have made them worse

An unexpected reprieve for Europe’s takeover directive

The Swedes may have managed to nudge negotiations to bring eastern newcomers into the EU further than expected

As George Bush prepares to come to Europe, structural changes in world politics are complicating relations between the United States and its oldest friends

Europe’s welfare state needs reforming, most economists agree. Just one problem: Europe’s citizens like it as it is

A referendum may reveal shrinking public enthusiasm for the EU

Grand visions of the future of the European Union are obscuring the crucial question

Only Brussels can open Europe’s wider skies

If it comes to a choice, the EU should put expansion before spending reform

For the first time, an Italian government may not offer uncritical devotion

What should happen to the EU’s aid to its poor regions when East European countries with far poorer ones join its ranks?

The enlargement of the European Union presents a big but necessary risk, says Gideon Rachman

Italians trust the EU more than their own democracy

Better news, but still lots to worry about

The disarray over the EU's takeover directive bodes ill for completion of its single financial market

Openly or not, Europe will be a big issue in Britain's election campaign. We examine five short books laying out arguments for and against

Not all bad, but the German chancellor’s bold opening shot may have misfired

Is it possible to be both a Eurosceptic and a powerful member of the European Commission?

Chancellor Gerhard Schr�der’s vision for Europe harks back to Germany’s own federal system

Germany's chancellor, Gerhard Schr�der, has proposed far-reaching plans for further European integration. The European Union's other big countries are doubtful

The European Commission is studying a dispute over intellectual property. Its decision will have far-reaching consequences

By writing half-formed rules on capital adequacy into law, Europe is putting the cart before the horse

At last, an accord between America and Europe over bananas

Europe is wrong to try to apply new international rules on bank capital in a uniform way

The likely revival of unemployment in Europe is bringing to the fore deep differences about the role of the employee

Germany may not, in the long run, accept France’s refusal to open up its energy market

Europe is worried about George Bush's America—and vice versa

European Union leaders appear to be slowing down economic liberalisation just when they should be speeding it up

After looking at how taxes are set within the European Union, two researchers conclude that having one rate for all countries could make everyone worse off

In the end, the European Central Bank didn't cut interest rates this week. It probably will in two weeks' time

Pulling together, or pulling apart?

For 50 years, France and Germany have been jointly driving Europe. But is this partnership heading for divorce?

Tony Blair says that his policies have put Britain back “at the heart of Europe”. That is not how it looks in Brussels

America’s economy looks less of a role model than it used to, but that is no reason for European governments to postpone their plans for structural reforms

The European Commission promises to regulate better, not to deregulate

At their summit in Stockholm on March 23rd, European Union heads of government will consider member countries’ progress on structural economic reform. How is such progress to be measured?

Zimbabwe’s president was politely received in Brussels and Paris but the European Parliament is thinking of cutting off aid

Is the European Union a force for liberalisation or over-regulation? Both

In rejecting membership of the European Union, the Swiss have shown that political qualms can count for more than marginal economic arguments

Everybody wants to be the European City of Culture, but Glasgow has discovered that it is an expensive accolade

Britain, America and the European Union: an unhappy menage � trois in the making?

Europe will discontinue tariffs on the poorest countries, but other emerging economies will lose

National governments and EU policymakers are reshaping Europe’s system of financial regulation. But they cannot agree on which shape will make their markets work best

Neil Kinnock, Europe’s Anglo-Saxon reformer

Europe’s football authorities have all but settled their quarrel with the European Union over transfer fees.

The crisis in European agriculture could force fundamental changes in the European Union’s common agricultural policy. At last

Mart Laar, Estonia’s punchy prime minister

Giving the European Parliament more power was meant to make the European Union more democratic. So far it hasn’t worked out that way

The European Commission is wrong to reprimand the Irish for their loosening of fiscal policy

Goran Persson, a Swede leading Europe

The EU’s commissioner for the internal market says that harmonising taxes among countries within the European Union is not on. Up to a point

Tensions between the new American administration and the European Union over defence could put Britain in a pivotal position. Britain may not find that a comfortable place to be

Vaclav Klaus, an unusually combative Czech

Small countries in the European Union may look to Germany to protect their interests—by bolstering the Commission in Brussels

The European Union is still bent on ambitious changes that would alter its very nature. Can they be achieved all at once?

For decades, the Franco-German alliance, though often strained, has driven the development of what is now the European Union. The relationship is now under more strain than ever

The European Union wants to show it can tackle both mad cows and uranium-depleted weapons, but is not quite sure how

The Poles are unromantic about wanting to join the European Union

On new year’s day the euro celebrated its second birthday and gained a new member, Greece. After a rocky start on the currency markets, it has also recently rebounded against the dollar. Yet even stiffer tests now lie ahead for the currency’s guardian, the European Central Bank

The six-month Swedish presidency of the EU, which began on January 1st, should be pleasantly restful

NATO and the EU have yet to find a way of making Turkey feel comfortable in a new defence arrangement between the two organisations

How Tony Blair helped his re-election chances at the Nice summit

How France’s internal political rivalries influenced the summit

What really transpired in the early hours of December 11th

The European Union’s summit in Nice gave a foretaste of the power struggles to come, as the EU prepares to let in 12 new members

For all its shortcomings, the agreement in Nice opens the way towards a welcome expansion of the European Union

The Nice summit’s main job is to open the EU to new members from the east

The EU’s takeover directive is in danger of being sent off track by some recent amendments

An ex-president of the EC has joined that select coterie whose opinions carry weight long after they leave office

Many Bulgarian villagers are desperate to sneak into the European Union

The main issue to be tackled at the European Union’s summit in Nice is how to expand the club’s membership. But other issues being pondered, including defence, are as important for the Union in the long run

The European Union’s summit in Nice next week is meant to prepare the ground for admitting the countries of Eastern Europe to the Union. But it may also hasten its division into an “inner” and “outer” core

Britain’s civil war over the defence of Europe

An enlarged European Union will need new ways of making decisions. Game theory sheds some light—and every bit helps

The divisions inside the European Union are still bigger than the things it can agree on

Some tests for the European Union’s new defence ambitions

Britain’s weird debate about the European Union

Hopes that the EU would help poorer countries on the southern and eastern edges of the Mediterranean are not being fulfilled

A bout of edginess between the French and German governments is making it harder for the European Union to make the changes next month in Nice that should pave the way towards the EU’s expansion to the east

The annual report by the European Commission on the 13 countries applying to join the EU pats most of them on the back. But that does not mean that the countries farthest ahead in their preparations will join when they hope to

The EU countries have made little progress in changing the way their club works—a prerequisite for bringing in new members

Deregulation of European pension-fund rules may be in the offing, at last

Like the United States, the European Union is becoming more aggressive in antitrust enforcement

After Denmark’s rejection of the euro, and with enlargement looming, the European Union must learn to live with dissent

Britain's regions have got used to regarding the European Union as a useful source of funds. But now the EU is blocking much-sought-after regional aid

Tony Blair is planning a major speech on the future of the European Union

Recent statements by some senior Irish ministers suggest that politicians in the republic may be tempering their love of the European Union

French-style protests have erupted across northern Europe in a bid to make fuel cheaper. This is not what architects of Europe’s single market had in mind

The 14 European Union countries who had isolated their fellow EU member, Austria, after a far-right party was included in its coalition government seven months ago, have now relented. We explain why

Pedro Solbes, commissioner for the euro

The authors of the European Union’s proposed new human-rights declaration have stuffed in a bit of everything, from the obvious to the incomprehensible

In two articles on the European Union, we look first at moves to clothe it with a written constitution and then on how some countries in the club want to keep its welfare-minded character

France’s president has suggested that European Union integration can proceed at different speeds, but his ideas need to become more flexible still

France’s president, Jacques Chirac, in replying to a German suggestion of a federal Europe, has proposed what amounts to a two-tier arrangement—with the top tier led by a rejuvenated Franco-German alliance

On the cheap doesn’t pay

At a summit, the European Union’s countries agreed to shelve an EU-wide tax on private savings, but have failed to decide how to handle Austria

The EU’s summit last weekend was a success—and not just because another seven countries were brought closer to joining the club

No one wants to do it, but all agree it must be done. It’s time to revise the EU’s treaties yet again, and to reopen arguments about sovereignty

The European Union will soon live up to its name, argues our survey

The new European Commission deserves the benefit of the doubt. Not so all its boss’s ambitions

Regulatory muddle is impeding Europe’s progress towards its goal of a single market in financial services

Romano Prodi, the European Commission’s new boss, has a mixed bag of colleagues to help him fulfil his dream of a European Union that has ever greater powers

It isn’t one yet. But it may at last become a more coherent force in world affairs

Romano Prodi, incoming president of the European Commission, is about to reveal his new, improved team. He will find it both co-operating and competing with the EU’s other institutions

Why Britain’s Labour Party fared so badly in the europolls

The two most striking features of the elections to the European Parliament were a shift to the right—and a huge abstention from voting

The low turn-out in Europe’s elections was a rebuke to the entire European enterprise

The European Parliament raises, but does not yet satisfactorily answer, questions about the place of democracy in the EU

The Kurdish separatist leader is in the dock, and so is Turkey

Britain’s elections to the European Parliament could delay the government’s planned referendum on the single currency

Why Britain’s top university economists voted for the euro in a specially commissioned Economist poll

The European Commission’s new chief needs a free hand to shape reform. Will the governments that unanimously appointed him give him one?

Restoring order in the European Union

The resignation of the European Commission prodded Europe’s leaders into rare decisiveness at this week’s summit, on some issues anyway

Controlling the European Commission will not be easy

If their leaders are serious, both the European Union and Germany can emerge stronger from the current confusion

In the wake of Oskar Lafontaine’s departure

The European Union’s way with illegal migrants

Farmers may soon be getting less help from the European Union—and perhaps more from their governments

These are difficult days for the European Commission, dogged by allegations of fraud and mismanagement. All the more reason to push ahead with reforms to bring more balance and equity to the European Union’s institutions

1999 will not be just the year the euro was born. With Germany presiding for the next six months, the European Union has a host of other challenges

The best cure for rows about the European Union’s budget is a systematic mechanism to curb excessive net contributions

The government is trying to put Britain at the centre of efforts to create a European approach to defence

It is more than time that the European Union got on with it

Next week the European Union opens negotiations at ministerial level with six countries seeking membership. It says they are doing well. But not well enough, apparently, to join for several years yet

The political climate in which the single currency will start may exacerbate strains between Europe’s politicians and central bankers

The social democrats now running Europe put jobs ahead of inflation-fighting

The EU’s agricultural policy may implode—fortunately

Germany and France do not yet need to cut interest rates

The Blair government hopes that the election of Gerhard Schr�der in Germany will allow Britain to make a diplomatic breakthrough in Europe. Dream on

The single currency is a threat to Europe’s bankers

A pity that none of the main parties in Germany’s election campaign has radical plans for Germany’s expensive health, welfare and pension systems

Europe’s leaders quietly start to ponder

America and the EU remain uneasy friends

Several European economies are in danger of overheating. With the single currency approaching, what can their governments do about it?

The euro compromise discredits more than the French

A row over Europe’s central bank does not mean Europe’s political engine is about to conk out—but it is certainly sputtering

A No vote in this month’s referendum could still scupper the EU’s expansion

So you want to understand Britain’s debate over whether to join the single European currency? Ask yourself who will gain power and who will lose it, if Britain swaps the pound for the euro

Europe’s leaders will this weekend select the 11 countries to take part in Europe’s single currency in 1999. Too bad about the row over the chairmanship of the new central bank that will supervise it

European economies are ill-prepared for the euro, argues our survey of EMU

Why Rupert Murdoch must grovel to the Eurocrats

Europe’s governments have only themselves to blame for the “black economy” HAVE you broken the law this year, or abetted others in breaking it? Almost certainly. When you paid your cleaner or builder in cash, or for some reason neglected to tell the taxman that you were paid for a service rendered, you participated in the black or underground economy. However, wickedness of this kind is more prevalent in some places than others. An unpublished report from the European Commission estimates that lawful but undeclared work accounts for up to 15% of Europe’s GDP, compared with 5% in the 1970s. For some countries the figure is much higher.

Western Europe says it can’t take any more immigrants. It may have to

The problems that will face the European Central Bank

Almost ten years after communism’s collapse, the West totters to the occasion

The European Commission’s plans to refashion its budget before letting in new members from Eastern Europe mean that existing members’ farmers and poor regions will have to get much less from Brussels

Poland has a long way to go before it gets into the EU

The European Union spends a lot of money on scientific research. Is this worthwhile?

Much more is at stake in the next Euro-elections than people think

The boss of France’s central bank has become entangled in the bitter battle for European monetary supremacy

As the single currency approaches, Europe needs to rethink its aim of “ever closer union”

Will Britain ever be comfortable with the way Europe seems to be heading?

Will the proposed creation of an inner caucus of single-currency countries open a new division between members of the European Union?

Most German politicians do not fully admit it yet, but their grand old vision of ever closer political union in Europe seems to be fading

Britain is not the only awkward partner in Europe

Italy has probably done enough to squeeze into EMU, but reform needs to go much further, says Matthew Bishop

But more explicit. That is the Labour government’s new policy on the euro

Why Gordon Brown won’t answer the question

Confused? You will be

Europe isn’t ready for it, but the euro is coming anyway

Here comes Europe’s single currency

European governments cannot avoid the awkward trade-off between wage flexibility—and hence low wages for the unskilled—and unemployment

Rumours of greater cabinet sympathy for Europe’s single currency have changed neither the politics nor the economics of monetary union

European economies seem to be bouncing back. Unfortunately that will bring little cheer to millions of unemployed people

On September 21st Poland will elect a new parliament. The next government’s main job will be to prepare the country for membership of the European Union. It is a daunting task

Why Europe’s single-currency plan is now quite a bit more likely to be carried out on time

The answer to Europe’s wasteful and inefficient farm policy is to cut prices and let governments subsidise their farmers themselves

When Europe’s farm ministers meet next week, many of them will rubbish the reforms proposed by Franz Fischler, the agriculture commissioner, to the Union’s common agricultural policy. But he has the right idea

Enlarging the European Union may be tough, but it should still be the Union’s top priority

The European Commission’s huge new package of plans—known as “Agenda 2000”—will shape the European Union well into the next decade. It covers not only enlargement but also the EU budget and farm policy reform

The European Union’s competition commissioner still wants to veto Boeing’s merger with McDonnell Douglas

A common European currency promises lower prices and more competition. Many local businesses do not want that; many more are unprepared for it

Whether the single currency succeeds or fails, the European Union should speedily open its doors to the east

A new European Union treaty paving the way for enlargement is meant to be signed next week in Amsterdam. But a Franco-German row over the rules for Europe’s planned single currency may mess up the meeting

At the Amsterdam summit, Tony Blair’s love for Europe, and its for him, are about to face their first serious test

The Socialist victory in France and the German government’s row with its central bank raise the same question: will Europe’s planned single currency start on the due date of January 1st 1999? The answer is still probably yes—but it could have a blighted infancy

Europe’s competition commissioner has his eyes on aviation. But in the case of Boeing his vision is distinctly faulty

Critics say the European Court of Justice wants to speed ever closer political union in Europe. Yet, as we argue in our fourth article on EU institutions, the court’s real failing is that it refuses to explain itself

Is at the heart of the European Union, says Jacques Santer

The reality of the Conservatives’ divide over Europe has come back, probably to consume John Major

Expanding the European Union would be great for Eastern Europe—and the net cost to Western Europe would be almost nothing

Politicians say they are desperate to cure Europe’s unemployment. Really?

Is Europe suffering a midlife crisis, four decades after the Treaty of Rome that set up the European Economic Community in 1957?

The European Union's arguments over what to do in Albania have revived doubts about whether it can ever build a genuine foreign policy

Eurosceptics think the European Union is fundamentally hostile to free markets. Are they right?

The council, which represents national governments and adopts most EU laws, is the Union's pivot. But, in our third look at Europe's institutions, we spot weaknesses as well as strengths

The costs of qualifying for Europe's single currency are proving to be high. Trouble is, so is the likely cost of postponing the project