Business & Media

Business Briefs

This series of Business briefs provides concise information about the European Union (EU) for businesses in the United States.

These business briefs examine the EU and the trading relationship between the US and the EU. One cluster of papers provides an overview of EU political and institutional factors relevant to doing business there; other clusters examine the EU as a trading partner, security issues, economic and market considerations and considerations such as corporate governance, tax policy, and intellectual property regulations.

Click on a title for a summary page and link to download the document in PDF format.
The year each brief was produced is listed next to the title.

EU Foreign Affairs

EU/NATO Defense Capabilities	2012
China: Europe's White Knight or Economic Black Swan?	2012
The New Germany: Abandoning Europe?	2012
The EU and Iran	2012
The EU and the Arab Spring	2012
The Impact of the 2012 US Election on the Transatlantic Relationship	2012

European Financial Crisis

EU Development Policy	2012
Contagion and the European Financial Crisis	2012
Eurobonds	2012
Macroeconomic Policy Coordination in the EU	2012
The Politics of an EU Financial Transaction Tax	2012

Recent Focus on Europe

The State of Right-Wing Extremism in Europe	2012
The British Coalition Government	2011
The "Greek" Crisis: Origins (Part 1)	2010
The "Greek" Crisis: Implications (Part 2)	2010

Europe Under the Lisbon Treaty

The European Union After Lisbon	2010
The Barroso II Commission	2010
The New European Parliament	2010
The EU's High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy	2010
The First President of the European Council	2010

International Issues

Focus on Afghanistan	2011
Libya: A European War?	2011
Somalia: Piracy, Failed State Status, and the Impact on Global Trade	2011
Focus on Russia	2010
Rising China: EU Perspectives and Responses	2009
European Responses to the Global Economic Crisis	2009
Life Sciences and Biotechnology: The Transatlantic Divide	2009
Climate Change: Towards a New Transatlantic Consensus?	2009
NATO's Afghan Quagmire (Afghanistan and the War on Terror)	2009

Transatlantic Relations

The New Transatlantic Relationship	2009
International Currency Competition: Euro vs. US Dollar	2009
Transatlantic Defense Procurement	2009
NATO After the Russian Invasion (The New Balance of Power in NATO)	2009
Transatlantic Investment: Towards a Transatlantic Marketplace?	2009

Doing Business in Europe

The Single Market (and voluntary industrial standards)	2008
Corporate Governance (the development of an EU company statute)	2008
Corporate Taxation (moves toward harmonization)	2008
Financial Services (efforts to implement the financial services directive)	2008
Intellectual Property Rights (efforts to establish an EU patent)	2008

Europe as a Trading Partner

The External Face of Europe (how the EU and member states represent trade)	2008
Agriculture	2008
Textiles	2008
Steel and Heavy Industry	2008
Information and Communications Technology	2008
The EU-US Dispute Over Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)	2007
The Demise of Doha: The End of the Multilateral Trading System?	2007
EU Development Policy	2007

Security

Security - Internal and External	2008
European Military Capabilities	2007
European Integration and Civil-Military Relations	2007
EU-NATO Relations	2007

Political and Institutional Factors

Decision Making and Legislation (Council, Commission, Parliament, Member States)	2006
Rule Enforcement and Dispute Resolution (Commission and ECJ)	2006
European Neighborhood Policy (Euro-Med, Immigration)	2008
Europe as a Political Entity (Federalism, Subsidiarity, Democracy)	2006
EU Constitutional Issues	2008
The Kyoto Protocol and Global Climate Change	2007

Economic and Market Considerations

Money and Exchange Rates (inside and outside the euro)	2008
Monetary and Fiscal Policy (the ECB and the stability and growth pact)	2008
Unemployment and Welfare State Reform (the Lisbon Strategy)	2008
Wage Bargaining and Worker Representation	2008
Education and Labor Mobility (Bologna Process, recognition of degrees, etc.)	2006
The Rise of the BRICs: Implications for Transatlantic Relations (Brazil, Russia, India, China)	2007
Europe's Rising Financial Power	2007
The EU and the Global Convergence in Accounting Standards	2007

North Carolina and the EU

North Carolina and the European Union: A Transatlantic Relationship

2006