Call for Papers on Rethinking Europe

The Research Network Macroeconomics and Macroeconomic Policies (FMM) celebrates their 20th Anniversary Conference this year, and this year’s conference is from Oct 20-22 in Berlin. The title is: “Towards Pluralism in Macroeconomics?”  Arbeitskreis Politische Ökonomie, in cooperation with the German chapter of the World Economics Association, want to celebrate this  by proposing a panel about “Rethinking Europe”, concentrating on the dimension of macroeconomic policies and interdisciplinary approaches.

Why this topic?

Although it is often said that the European Union only deepens with a crises, the year 2016 seems to be decisively different, both by the amount of problems, and their depth, e.g.:

– For the first time ever the formal exit of a member state (UK) is a real possibility

 – The deep recession in Europe is far from over, poverty, unemployment, and deprivation are very high in many regions

 – The problem of over-indebtedness of some Eurozone member states (esp. Greece) is not solved

 – Anti-democratic and nationalistic tendencies, especially in the Eastern countries (Hungary, Poland), are gaining momentum

–  The EU position, on how to deal with refugees/migrants, is extremely unsatisfactory

 – Central questions of legitimacy for far-reaching economic policies, e.g. how to proceed with CETA/TTIP, are not solved.

We want to discuss such challenges from a structural perspective. We especially welcome contributions about the institutional shaping of a better future for the EU. We need fresh answers for questions such as:

–  Is the institutional setting of the EU (Councils, Commission, Parliament) still appropriate?

–  Tax competition is a serious problem, but where are the viable solutions?

– The incomplete Eurozone: dissolve it or deepen it – and in both cases how?

– Do we need autonomous EU taxes, and debt?

– How much financial solidarity is appropriate between richer and poorer member states?

– Is there ground for common social standards?

– The refugees/migration crisis won’t be over. Any solutions?

Please send an abstract (maximum 400 words) to: groezing@uni-flensburg.de by May 31st. We will then plan sessions, however, the process of selecting sessions, remains in the hands of the FMM.