The Future of European Climate, Energy, and Innovation Policy

 EVENTS                        
  • EU Innovation Policy: How to Escape the Middle Technology Trap? 
  • Climate Policy Priorities for the Next European Commission 

  • The Future of EU Energy Policy

 POLICY REPORTS       
  • EU Innovation Policy – How to Escape the Middle Technology Trap?  
  • Climate Policy Priorities for the Next European Commission

  • Watts Next: Securing Europe’s Energy and Competitiveness 

 POLICY BRIEF              
  • Zeitenwende in German-Chinese Trade Relations?
 EXPERT OPINIONS      
  • A New Understanding of Health Policy Is Needed

  • A New Trump Era and Its Consequences

 ECONPOL FORUM       
  • Rise of Populism: Causes, Consequences and Policy Implications?

  • A World Unprepared: Missing Skills for Development

  • Inequality Trends in the Context of Changes in Labor Market Outcomes, Composition and Redistribution in Germany 

  • Semantic Shifts in EU Competition Law

  • Pandemics, Payments and Fiscal Policy: Lessons from Four Years after the Outbreak of Covid-19

 EVENTS                            

EU Innovation Policy: How to Escape the Middle Technology Trap

EconPol Europe, the Institute for European Policymaking at Bocconi University and the Toulouse School of Economics invited to the launch event for the new Policy Report EU Innovation Policy. Clemens Fuest (ifo Institute), Daniel Gros and Mario Monti (Institute for European Policymaking @ Bocconi University), Jean Tirole (Toulouse School of Economics/Nobel prize 2014), Reinhilde Veugelers (KU Leuven) and Markus Schulte (Head of Cabinet of Iliana Ivanova – European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth) discussed the question: How can the EU escape the “middle technology trap”?
 
The recoding of the panel discussion can be found on the EconPol website as well as the Report on EU Innovation Policy.

Climate Policy Priorities for the Next European Commission

EconPol Europe and the European Roundtable on Climate Change and Sustainable Transition (ERCST) organized a panel discussion on climate policy priorities for the next European Commission. Together with a high-level line-up of experts, Clemens Fuest (President of the ifo Institute), Andrei Marcu (Executive Director of ERCST), and Michael Mehling (Deputy Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research at MIT) examined core issues for EU Institutions in the development and implementation of climate change policies post-2024 EU elections.

The recording of the panel discussion can be found on YouTube. The discussion was based on this EconPol Policy Report.

The Future of EU Energy Policy

In this webinar, leading energy expert from different EU countries discussed major challenges and chances after the upcoming EU elections; and the role that individual members states and the EU should play on this road:
  • Frédéric Gonand, Professor of Economics at University Paris Dauphine-PSL

  • Pedro Linares, Professor of Industrial Engineering at the ICAI School of Engineering 

  • David Newbery, Director of the Cambridge Energy Policy Research Group

  • Karen Pittel, Director of the ifo Center for Energy, Climate and Resources 

  • Georg Zachmann, Senior Fellow at Bruegel

The discussion presented key findings of the EconPol Policy Report “Watts Next: Securing Europe’s Energy and Competitiveness Where the EU’s Energy Policy Should Go Now”.
The recording of the webinar is available on YouTube and on the EconPol website.
 POLICY REPORTS           

EU Innovation Policy: How to Escape the Middle Technology Trap

Encouraging innovation has long been a priority for European policymakers, with the implicit aim of reaching the technology frontier represented by the US. This goal has not been achieved. The Innovation Scoreboards regularly published by the European Commission have consistently found that the EU lags behind the US on many indicators. The most recent indicators show the transatlantic gap has widened. This report argues that current European efforts, while laudable, are insufficient, in both quantity and quality. Important reforms are required to enable Europe to compete in the value-creating space.

Climate Policy Priorities for the Next European Commission

Much has changed in the world since the European Green Deal and the “Fit for 55” packages were conceived, including a dramatic increase in industrial policy actions by Europe’s trade partners, a deteriorating geopolitical landscape, and an energy crisis that has been aggravated by these factors. All of this has led to persistent fiscal and economic pressures. This policy report identifies climate policy priorities, trade-offs between climate policies and European economic competitiveness, and formulates recommendations for the incoming European institutions. 

Watts Next: Securing Europe’s Energy and Competitiveness

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to gas supply in Europe dropping significantly, shaking the EU out of its complacency regarding energy procurement. The costs of going green on top of more expensive energy are putting a strain on European competitiveness, with higher energy prices hitting the chemical, steel and metal processing industries in countries like Germany, Spain or Poland particularly hard. This Policy Report from an international team of European experts in energy policy examines the lessons learned and, most importantly, looks ahead.
 POLICY BRIEF                 

Zeitenwende in German-Chinese Trade Relations?

The Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022 marked not only a turning point (Zeitenwende) for German security policy but also for German foreign economic policy. From a European standpoint, the war served as a painful reminder of how economic dependencies can be used as political leverage, bringing the geopolitical dimension of trade relations and economic interdependencies into public focus. In particular, economic ties with the People’s Republic of China are increasingly being scrutinized. The ifo Institute conducted a representative survey with German firms in February 2024 to assess changes in their reliance on Chinese inputs since the outbreak of the war and firms’ plans regarding their supply relationships with China.
 EXPERT OPINIONS        

A New Understanding of Health Policy Is Needed

The current debate on health policy concerns important issues relating to the future provision and financing of our healthcare system. However, it is primarily taking place with the traditional focus on the treatment of illnesses. Karen Pittel, Director of the ifo Center for Energy, Climate, and Resources, argues that a broader understanding of healthcare policy is urgently needed. This should increasingly combine prevention and the strengthening of resilience and potential for development as complementary approaches in a holistic health policy approach.

A New Trump Era and Its Consequences

After the Super Tuesday primaries of the US presidential election, it was a certainty: Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president of the United States. What happens next? Clemens Fuest, president of the ifo Institute, expects far-reaching consequences for Europe and the rest of the world if the unpredictable politician wins the presidential race in November. Not only in terms of foreign and security policy, but also for international trade and climate policy.
 ECONPOL FORUM         


Policy Debate of the Hour

Rise of Populism: Causes, Consequences and Policy Implications?

Economic Policy and its Impact

A World Unprepared: Missing Skills for Development

Economic Policy and its Impact
How far away is the world from ensuring that every child obtains at least basic skills? And what would it mean for world development to reach the goal of global universal basic skills? This article addresses these two intertwined questions. The authors draw on the individual-level test data from available international and regional student assessments to develop world estimates of the share of children not achieving basic skills in each country and then show the economic costs of these deficits.

Institutions Across the World

Inequality Trends in the Context of Changes in Labor Market Outcomes, Composition and Redistribution in Germany

Institutions Across the World
In Germany, several studies have investigated trends in earnings and income inequality in the past few years. However, a recent and comprehensive account of inequality in Germany that also considers dimensions other than earnings and income inequality is currently not available. This article documents the development of inequalities in Germany over the years from 1983 to 2020.

Big Data-Based Economic Insights

Semantic Shifts in EU Competition Law: A Data-driven Study of Policy Goals

Big Data-Based Economic Insights
Since its inception, European competition law has been a battleground for different interpretations and ideologies. As a result, concepts ranging from market integration and individual freedom to socially optimal market structures have constantly vied for influence alongside efficiency-oriented arguments reminiscent of the Chicago School. This tapestry of ideas underscores the multifaceted nature of competition policy – a policy that is inextricably linked to the specific “DNA” of its legal regime and its hierarchy of policy goals.

Big Data-Based Economic Insights

Pandemics, Payments and Fiscal Policy: Lessons from Four Years after the Outbreak of Covid-19

The outbreak of an unprecedented global health crisis about four years ago put the very foundations of our communities, economies and politics to the test. Policymakers had to learn and react fast to limit human and economic costs at the same time. This article highlights the importance of existing markets, technological features such as payments systems and economic decisions at the transactional level in combating the spread of a contagious disease while stabilizing aggregate economic activity.
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