Past events

Using the tax system to support research and development has become a very popular policy tool. Many countries are implementing incentives such as tax credits, patent boxes and direct subsidies to stimulate new R&D. But is there really a causal relationship between these policies and the R&D spending done by the businesses receiving the incentives? And if so, is this R&D productive, and does it have an impact on the wider economy?

For our last joint lunch debate with CEPS before the summer break. we presented the latest research into this area. İrem Güçeri (EconPol Europe, Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford), Ruzica Rakic (DG Research & Innovation, European Commission) and journalist Jennifer Baker discussed the question: is there an optimal policy mix for incentivizing R&D?

VIDEO: Panelist and co-author of the research İrem Güçeri explains the background to her work: Supporting Firm Innovation in R&D: What is the Optimal Policy Mix? 

POLICY REPORT: Supporting Firm Innovation and R&D: What is the Optimal Policy Mix?

The European debt crisis has brought about permanent changes in the Eurozone. The no-bailout rule was - de facto - removed, new institutions such as the European Stability Mechanism and the banking union were designed and partially implemented, new monitoring and surveillance schemes such as the macroeconomic imbalance procedure were introduced. In this way, the functioning of the Eurozone has been irreversibly transformed. Now, a new and even more devastating crisis has hit the Eurozone in the form of Covid19 and the resulting economic impact. 

Will we observe the substantive, if not also formal, infringement of well established principles such as those preventing the ECB from monetizing government deficits, the member states from mutualizing their debt and the Eurozone from becoming a transfer union? To what extent will this infringement be necessary and sufficient to avoid the Eurozone’s implosion? And is it going to be purely temporary or is likely to be long lasting? Given the political dynamics that are under way in the EU member states, will there be enough consensus in support of these policy shifts in both Eurozone’s core and peripheral countries, or will they cause political turmoil? 

In the first online version of our series of joint CEPS and EconPol lunch debates, moderator Jennifer Baker (www.BrusselsGeek.com) will put these questions, and more, to Luigi Bonatti (EconPol Europe, Università di Trento), Daniel Gros (EconPol Europe, CEPS) and Nicola Rossi (Università degli Studi di Roma).

The economic crisis caused by Covid-19 is on course to become more serious than the 2008 financial crisis. Eurozone member states face several challenges in order to stabilize the economy, not least the short-term financial aid required during the shutdown and the subsequent support needed to get the economy back on its feet.

The Eurozone has little room for manoeuvre with the limitations of monetary policy and high levels of national debt. It’s crucial to ensure that added value is created by policy at a European level, with a robust infrastructure to ensure no member state is left behind.

In the first of our series of Policy Research Live online debates, EconPol Europe welcomed our speaker Clemens Fuest (ifo) and network member Antonia Díaz (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) to discuss the policy options available for the Eurozone and asked: is a European Recovery Fund an effective policy measure to deal with Covid-19 consequences?

Recent proposals of the OECD and the EU have taken a tougher stance on aggressive tax planning by multinationals. The dependence on physical presence for the establishment of a taxable nexus, which is a main feature of the existing tax framework, poses a great challenge for the taxation of cross-border transactions of, but not only, digital businesses. This EconPol Europe Lab Session will discuss the opportunities and risks of recent policy initiatives such as the European Commission’s Digital Services Tax proposals. Can these proposals deliver what they promise – do they close the current loopholes in the tax system? What are the costs to competition and economic welfare in general and can such proposals find support amongst all member states?

This invitation-only dinner presents the 19th edition of the European Economic Advisory Group (EEAG) report on the European Economy. Experts from EconPol Europe and the EEAG will present the report to members of the European Parliament and provide expert insight and analysis of its findings and proposals.

This event is strictly by invitation only. For further information contact Juliet Shaw at shaw@econpol.eu