Baldwin versus Cecchini revisited: the growth impact of the European Single Market

The European Single Market created a common market for millions of Europeans. However, 30 years after its introduction, it appears that the benefits of the common European project are occasionally being questioned at least by some parts of the population. Others, by contrast, strive for deeper integration. Against this background, we empirically gauge the growth effect that arose from the Single Market. Using the synthetic control method, we establish the growth premium for the Single Market overall and for its founding members. Broadly in line with the predictions made by Richard Baldwin at the onset of the Single Market project, we find significantly higher real GDP per capita for the overall Single Market area of around 12–22 %. In comparison, smaller EU Member States seem to have benefited somewhat more compared to larger countries. The estimated growth effects underline the case for further deepening and broadening the Single Market where possible.

Otherness in the Workplace among Highly Skilled Labour Migrants: Swedes in Germany and the UK

The conditions for intra-European labour mobility have changed significantly during recent decades, mainly due to the European Single Market. Despite this, internationally mobile and highly skilled intra-EU migrants from West to West have not received enough attention in the sociology of work. The present article focuses on highly skilled labour migrants with a university degree from Sweden, currently working in Germany or the UK. Swedish migrants feel they challenge specific norms related to hierarchies in the workplace, behaving according to their own ‘taken-for-granted’ norms concerning the ways in which work is organized and tasks are assigned. Their privileged position as educated Swedish migrants is an important part of their self-image and enables them to challenge norms. Furthermore, they also deal with self-perceived otherness while making sense of their experiences of contradictions and norm-breaking. The findings highlight their self-definitions, according to which they are simultaneously (by default) insiders and/or (superior) outsiders.

Diplomatic Collaborative Solutions to Assure the Adoption of the European Single Market Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

As the COVID-19 crisis has shown, the lack of harmonized and coordinated actions superseding national borders represented a limit to the full implementation of already existing legal binding instruments at the European level. It is recognized that the existing levels of globalization have contributed to accelerate the large-scale transmission of viruses and increased the likelihood of a pandemic public health crisis. This article aims to highlight the importance of greater bilateral cooperation to mitigate the health and economic impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It focuses on the implementation of diplomatic collaborative systems to assure the full implementation of the European single market as well as the adoption of standardized health information platforms as a part of pandemic preparedness and control measures.

A detailed mapping of the food industry in the European single market: similarities and differences in market structure across countries and sectors

Background Food environments are influenced by food industries (packaged food and non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers; supermarkets and quick service restaurants). An important source of this influence is the significant market power held by a limited number of food companies. Market structure analysis, as part of a broader market power research agenda, has received limited attention from the public health community. The aim of this study was to analyse similarities and differences in market structure across countries and industries in the European Single Market. Methods The companies with the largest market share at the national level for each industry were identified from Euromonitor sales data in 2017/18. The market structure was assessed by the following metrics: the number of global brand owners with ≥1% market share per country, the number of companies unique for one European Single Market member state, the most sold packaged food and non-alcoholic beverage categories, the number of quick-service restaurants and supermarkets per 1000 inhabitants and market concentration by means of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) and the four firm concentration ratio (CR4). CR4-values > 40% and HHI-values > 2000 indicate concentrated markets with limited competition. Results The leading packaged food and non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers and the most sold food and beverage product categories were similar across countries in Europe. The observed levels of concentration were however different. Average CR4-values ranged from 21 to 72% among packaged food product markets and 60 to 76% for non-alcoholic beverage product markets. Average CR4-values for quick service restaurants and supermarkets were 50 and 60%, respectively. Across European countries the same leading quick-service restaurants were identified, while this was not the case for supermarkets. Conclusions This study forms an important basis to understand key aspects of market structure of the European food industry, observing clear differences between food industries and European Single Market member states. This has potential implications for the implementation of food environment policies at different levels of jurisdiction.

Does the European Single Market Exist in the Era of a Coronavirus Pandemic? The Case of Intra and Extra-EU Trade in COVID-19-related Products

The COVID-19 pandemic has been an extraordinary event for the EU Member States and a period wherein EU legislation and the efficiency of EU institutions have been put to the test. The crisis triggered by the decisions made by governments in Europe (which were motivated by their wishes to protect the health and lives of their peoples and to satisfy the rapid demand for drugs, personal protective equipment, and medical devices) disrupted market forces. Although most of these measures were based on both domestic and EU legislation, they seriously hindered the smooth functioning of the EU Single Market, including the free movement of goods. This paper aims to find out whether EU legislation succeeded in coping with the challenges triggered by COVID-19 in the field of international trade and whether measures taken by the European Commission with a view to complying with the rules of the EU Single Market adequately took care of the needs stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak and whether it properly tackled protectionist instruments adopted by the Member States. We have focused on international trade and the free movement of goods within the EU as they both constitute the cornerstone of EU economic integration. We found that although EU legislation was not tailored specifically for the times of a COVID-19 pandemic, in the area of international trade (including intra-EU trade), as well as in the field of placing goods on the market, it provided extraordinary solutions. Apparently, the explanations and guidelines provided by the Commission have limited the scope of individual protectionist and interventionist actions of the Member States.

Post-Brexit Leadership in European Finance

Brexit has far-reaching consequences for Europe and the European single market for financial transactions. In particular in this field, the UK has had a strong influence in drafting European policies and legislation as the City of London has acted as the financial hub in Europe for several decades. As a result, the UK has spearheaded the call for more market friendly legislation with the support of some other EU member states. This went against the wishes of several other EU member states, where a stronger rule-based approach to financial markets was strongly preferred, in particular after the financial crisis clearly demonstrated weaknesses in the macroeconomic oversight of European financial markets. With the UK leaving, the call for more stringent legislation will gain momentum as the political leadership among the remaining 27 EU member states will shift and might be looking to curtail the long-standing dominant position of the UK in the field of financial industries. In this light, several leaders of EU27 member states have already voiced their support for their nations’ financial hub to become the next City of London. This would lead to a substantial change in leadership in European finance post-Brexit. This contribution assesses the impact of Brexit on the changes in political leadership on the governance of European financial markets, as they might ultimately be reflected in the institutional outcomes and policies.

Europe, the Euro and German Demographic Renewal

Access to the domestic market is nowadays the trump card of trade diplomacy. The larger the domestic market, the more effective it is. The euro is thus the decisive pillar of the European single market. The German debt brake is incompatible with the long-term stability of the euro. For as long as it applies, full employment can never be achieved in the eurozone as a whole. Under currentfiscal policy, full employment would require unrealistically high export surpluses. A euro doomed to underemployment will collapse. Hence, the international fiscal order must also be applied among the nation states in the euroarea. Germany’s resulting obligations offer an opportunity for a German demographic renewal by aggressively encouraging the immigration of skilled workers.

Die Panoramafreiheit im digitalen Zeitalter

With the increasing digitalization of the European single market, the freedom of panorama as a limitation to copyright is becoming increasingly important for our society. While the law initially benefited primarily landscape and urban painters, nowadays it is photographers, film-makers, the entire media industry, but also people who share images of works in public space on the Internet who may increasingly come into conflict with copyright laws if a freedom of panorama is not harmonized throughout Europe and adapted tot he digital age.

Quantum Computer Resistant Cryptographic Methods and Their Suitability for Long-Term Preservation of Evidential Value

In the areas of electronic identification and electronic trust services, the Regulation No. 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC (eIDAS) creates uniform regulations for electronic signatures, seals, time stamps, registered mail and website certificates in the European single market. All developments that affect the security of signature procedures have an impact. In this study, we consider the candidates for quantum computer-resistant asymmetric cryptographic (PQC) methods currently under investigation in international research and standardization and evaluate their suitability for PKI systems with a focus on long-term preservation of evidential value, as is the case in particular with eIDAS-compliant signature solutions. Based on an evaluation system proposed by us - an adaptation of the system from [2] - we compare the application requirements with the properties of the candidates and recommend suitable methods.