Events

The EU is stepping up its common approach towards immigration policies, and immigration is one of the priorities of the current French presidency. But do the policies adopted respond to Europe’s needs? The newly approved "return directive", for instance, allows governments to detain illegal migrants for up to 18 months. Beyond a question of fundamental human rights, is an approach based on restricting migration economically sound in today’s ageing and increasingly services-oriented European societies? While the focus has long been on the costs of immigration to Europe’s welfare states, an increasing number of studies are suggesting that freer international migration could bring huge economic benefits to Europe.

Martin Wolf from the Financial Times will discuss the future of the world trading system in ECIPE's first annual Jan Tumlir Lecture.

Razeen Sally’s new book, “Trade Policy, New Century. The WTO, FTAs and Asia Rising,” has just been published by the Institute of Economic Affairs in London. The author will present the main insights and messages of his new work. Two discussants, one from academia and one from European policy-making circles will give their views on this new publication, which will be followed by an open debate.