Books

A fölemelkedő Európa

This monograph is an attempt to reassess the long term growth prospects of Europe in the light of the crisis of the European Union. While the Union has come to a stagnant stage in all walks of life, from the Constitution to the Lisbon Agenda, some small countries, such as the Baltics, Ireland and Finland have shown remarkable performance. Also for the post-Communist countries some have experienced dynamic growth, while others have fallen victim to the spread of continetal populism, with old-fashioned redistributory policies and "economic patriotism" stalling the robustness of their growth, long before convergence to the EU-15 level could have been achieved.

The author offers a broad neo-institutionalist interpretation of success and failure and sets outs conditions under which the EU could become more menaingful for all of its member states. It analyzes alternative strategies and finds adherence to the principles of sound finance to be of crucial importance. The largely unresolved problem of transnational regulation, as well as the focal importance of institution building is being emphasized.