EU Economic Law in a Time of Crisis

This book will be of interest to all those concerned with the EU, whether from the perspective of political science, law or economics. Under the shadow of the financial crisis, studies with a broad research perspective and contributors from diverse backgrounds are important.' - Paul Craig, St John s College, Oxford'The European Union is re-emerging from the most serious economic crisis in its history. The agenda of the European Commission was highly influenced by the decisions to handle the debt, euro, banking and financial crises. The Union and its single currency have become much stronger. Economic law and governance in the Union are now rather different. By reading this book you will see where and how.' - Siim Kallas, Former Vice President of the European Commission 2004-2014 How has the EU's economic crisis affected the development of economic law in the Union? This book contributes to the debate by examining EU economic law from a contextual and policy-oriented perspective. The expert authors explore areas such as the EMU and the internal market, and emphasize the important fields of public procurement, taxation, and intellectual property rights. The investigation proceeds along themes such as harmonization, institutional interplay, non-economic values, and international actions. The authors conclude that, during the crisis, the attention of the Barroso Commission focused quite narrowly on the most urgent problems, failing to consider longer-term issues to spark off bold policy endeavours, and break inter-institutional blockages. This book is targeted at scholars, policy-makers and other practitioners, as well as students, interested in EU economic law, integration, and the economic crisis. Contributors: J. Faull, C. Geiger, F. Hoffmeister, M.S. Jansson, H. Kalimo, T. Lahti, I. Lejeune, M. Meulenbelt, K. Olkkonen, J. Salminen, A. Strub, J. Strupczewski, J. Vaario