• Olof Ehrenkrona, Ambassador at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and a member of the CES Academic Council, presented the book on the occasion of the Economic Ideas Forum conference in Helsinki.

• The book assesses government responses to the current economic crisis and offers recommendations to policymakers at the national, EU and regional levels.

• The publication has been produced by the CES in collaboration with its member foundations.

 

On 6 June, Olof Ehrenkrona, Ambassador at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and a member of the CES Academic Council, presented From Reform to Growth: Managing the Economic Crisis in Europe, a collaborative book produced by the Centre for European Studies (CES), the political foundation of the European People’s Party (EPP), and its member foundations. 

 

The book was launched in Helsinki on the occasion of the Economic Ideas Forum 2013, an annual economic conference of the CES, which this year is co-organised in partnership with the Finnish Toivo think tank. This book assesses decisions taken by European governments between 2007 and 2012 in response to the crisis, and contributes to the formulation of the European centre-right economic policy narrative.

 

The publication, which covers 19 countries, reveals three main lessons pertaining to the economic crisis: the first is that countries that undertook reforms before the crisis, endured it better than those where reforms were insufficient; the second stresses the importance of responding quickly to a crisis and obtaining social and political consensus for government actions; and the third states that there is no alternative to reducing public debt through fiscal consolidation, in combination with economic reforms, which include the creation of flexible labour markets, increasing the retirement age and shaping efficient public institutions. 

 

The book concludes that such reforms would bring about lasting economic growth, contribute to job creation and set Europe on the path to prosperity. The book’s biggest value lies in the fact that country, EU and region chapters were written by national experts who know the reality much better than people from the outside. The challenge now is to learn from the positive examples of economic and financial policies that the European experience of the past five years has to offer. 

 

 

Title: From Reform to Growth

Subtitle: Managing the Economic Crisis in Europe

Editor: Vít Novotný

ISBN 9789059727519, hardcover, 544 pages, directly available via eburon.nl

ISBN 9789059727909, paperback, 544 pages, soon available via Amazon

ISBN 9789059727656, digital publication, soon available via eburon.nl and Amazon

 

 

Note to the editor: 

 

The Centre for European Studies (CES), established in 2007, is the political foundation of the European People’s Party (EPP). The CES embodies a pan-European mindset, promoting Christian Democrat, conservative and like-minded political values. It serves as a framework for national political foundations linked to member parties of the EPP, with 26 foundations currently members. For more information, please visit www.thinkingeurope.eu.  

  

The Economic Ideas Forum is an annual high-level conference that brings together economic experts, EU heads of state and government, European Commissioners, ministers, business leaders and other influential stakeholders from around the world. The Forums provide an opportunity to consider innovative ideas and propose solutions to the economic challenges facing the EU economy. Every year, over 250 participants attend the conference; previous Forums have been successfully held in Madrid (2010), London (2011) and Dublin (2012).

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