barriers

October 1, 2016

Innovation in Food Labelling

According the European Commission, a Geographical Indication (GI) is “a distinctive sign used to identify a product as originating in the territory of a particular country, region or locality where its quality, reputation or other characteristic is linked to its geographical origin.” Under the system of GIs, the European Union has protected over 3,300 food and wine names with, as of 2010, an estimated value of €54.3 billion.
October 1, 2016

Innovation in Agriculture

Population growth, natural resource scarcity and climate change will challenge agriculture to deliver food security in the coming decades. Innovative practices to address these challenges exist, they are hampered by complex legislation and perverse incentives.
September 1, 2016

Beware the Commission’s Rotten Apple Ruling

The European Commission has ordered Ireland to recover €13bn worth of allegedly unpaid taxes from Apple. Reception of the decision has been mixed, with some hailing the ruling as an indictment of Ireland’s low-tax policy, whilst others have condemned the move as a badly concealed attempt by the EU to obtain tax powers by stealth.
August 1, 2016

The EU and Economic Freedom: a Complicated Relationship

The European Union is all things to all people. To proponents on the right, it is a force for international cooperation, trade promotion and economic growth. To those on the left, it serves to enhance labour and environmental standards, to hold corporations to account, and to tackle problems which reach beyond national boundaries.
July 1, 2016

Corporation Tax Reform: Theory, Evidence and Avoidance

There are efforts at national, EU and international levels to put forward significant reforms to the corporate tax system. The 20th century model of profits taxation is no longer fit for purpose in a globalised world where highly mobile intangible and financial capital is gaining in importance.
July 1, 2016

Radical, but Not Equal: Assessing Corporate Tax Reforms

A tax on turnover would tax profitable and loss-making firms equally, potentially posing an insurmountable hurdle to struggling firms, and eliminating the tax benefit of normally beneficial capital expenditure.
June 1, 2016

France: the Hottest Economy You’ve Never Heard of

France badly needs economic reform. But we shouldn’t let negative news headlines blind us to the fact that the French economy has tremendous potential and that, provided a small number of important but feasible policy changes, it can do very well.
June 1, 2016

The Policy Implications of the Sharing Economy

The emergence of the sharing economy is rapidly changing the way in which goods and services are provided across the EU. However, the policy implications of these new business models are only gradually becoming apparent, whilst policymakers at EU and national levels begin to consider the optimal ways to adapt regulation to the new economic reality.