26/5/20: Franco-German Eurobonds: A First Step on the Road to Federalism

My recent article on the Franco-German proposal for Euro bonds for The Currency: https://www.thecurrency.news/articles/17392/france-and-germany-have-proposed-a-e500m-fund-to-shield-european-economy-what-does-it-mean-for-ireland.

28/9/17: Schauble: A Requiem For Austerity Finance

My comment for yesterday’s NY Times on Wolfgang Schäuble’s departure from the Finance Ministry post: https://nyti.ms/2k5N2Er 

22/3/2014: If we are to be democratic about EU's powers...

In February 2014, Ipsos conducted a survey across the EU states covering voters preferences for the long-term policy they saw fit their country in relation to the future of the EU. Here is the summary of the results:

So here are top conclusions:

1. Of countries covered only Hungary expressed more than 50% preference for either formation of a single European Government or enhancing powers of the EU.
2. Of countries that expressed less than 50% preference for expanding the EU powers, Italy, Germany, and Spain showed preferences of between 45% and 49%
3. There was, on average, and across Poland, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Sweden and Great Britain stronger preferences for scaling back the EU powers than for expanding them.

While it is easy to discount the UK preferences, Poland, Belgium, France, Netherlands and Sweden all showed very strong distaste for any further expansion of the EU powers. The Netherlands and Sweden were, in fact, virtually indistinguishable from Great Britain.