What the Barnier appointment really means

By: Wolfgang Münchau

The EU missed a unique opportunity to merge economics and finance.

The MiFID Directive - This is Briefingnote is presented by EurActiv

The MiFID, a cornerstone of the Financial Services Action Plan, was proposed in November 2002 to update the existing Investment Services Directive (ISD) of 1993. It was designed to cope with, and to further enable, the increased level of cross-border investment transactions, which had shown an annual increase of 20-25% in the years from 1996.

A tale of two countries

By: Wolfgang Münchau

France is reforming, Germany is not only not reforming, but anti-reforming, with new minimum and soon perhaps maximum wages. So why is everybody so optimistic about Germany, and so pessimistic about France?

How strong are Spanish banks?

By: Jaime Pozuelo-Monfort

Spain's banking sector may be strong, but it is taking a big hit by the property crisis at the moment. The real estate crisis will not be over until at least until 2010.

A Berlusconi-Sarkozy alliance in Europe?

By: Richard Robert, Telos think tank

As French President Nicolas Sarkozy was among the first to congratulate the newly elected Italian leader, concern is growing on a possible Berlusconi-Sarkozy alliance in Europe. But even if both leaders have a common rhetoric on specific topics, such as monetary or immigration policy, their goals and strategies look different.

Bertie's legacy

By: Alan Ahearne, Bruegel and NUI Galway

As Bertie Ahern's ten-year tenure comes to an end, so does Ireland's extraordinary economic boom.