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.

This conference will present a new comprehensive study on security initiatives by the National Board of Trade in Sweden, bring together world experts to scrutinize evidence concerning costs and benefits of security-chain initiatives, and offer practical and realistic advice on the way forward. The floor will be open to all present to discuss the delicate balance between security and facilitation.

As the first in an upcoming series, this conference launches ECIPE’s new project on trade and healthcare. In Europe, despite spiralling healthcare expenditures by national governments, health productivity continues to fall as beleaguered national health services struggle to cope with demand. Trade agreements say little about healthcare. Some international organizations are hostile to the idea of more trade in this sector, and err on the side of protectionism. Can the current crisis help understand how trade can be an integral part of healthcare provision? Presentations and papers from the conference>

The report of the first Warwick Commission was published in late 2007, with the aim of sparking a lively and positive debate about the issues facing the world trade system today. The Warwick Commissions have been charged with carrying out independent analyses of issues of global importance, with the goal of making practical and realistic recommendations about how to move them forward. This discussion taking place in Brussels is part of a process of testing their first report against the realities of global trade and the problems that policymakers face.