In this edition, panellists reflect on the woes of the EU single market in the context of a shrinking European economy. They also zoom in on Europe’s drinking culture and give their views on taxing the rich.
We are joined this week by Andrea Renda from think tank CEPS, Dr Eoin Drea from the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, and Raquel Garcia Hermida-van der Walle from the Dutch social liberal political party Democrats 66.
The panel pick apart the Enrico Letta report, 147 pages of conclusions about the good, bad and ugly of the EU single market 30 years since it’s creation.
Today, European companies are faced with 27 versions of company law, 27 insolvency laws and 27 tax systems making it challenging for SMEs and even harder for entrepreneurs. But Eoin Drea was not convinced this latest report would change much. He called it a “love letter to political failure.”
“I think, unfortunately, we have another report, another election, another report about the European single market,” he said lamenting the lack of political will to implement ideas.
“We’re not doomed,” according to Andrea Renda, who called on the EU to get its act together.
Raquel Garcia Hermida called for a “blast for the future.”
“We really need to move Europe forward in the next few years. We have no time to lose,” she said.
Watch “Brussels, my love?” in the player above.
