Vanika Sharma

It is essential for EU institutions and Member State governments to shift their focus from the abstract concept of the "Single Market" to the concrete objective of "legal harmonisation in the EU." This transition represents a strategic realignment towards more pragmatic policymaking. Adopting a 28th regime to address national regulation discrepancies would align with this goal and enhance the Single Market's effectiveness in promoting economic growth and...

This Policy Brief proposes the establishment of an agreement on conformity assessment between the EU and the US that covers machinery and electrical equipment. The initiative aims to increase the number of European and US conformity assessment bodies authorized to test and certify EU and US machinery and electrical equipment for exports into each other’s markets, without recognizing the equivalency or otherwise altering the product requirements in regulation,...

For the EU, fostering economic interdependence is a more proactive and forward-thinking approach than resorting to defensive measures like eliminating alleged economic dependencies through restrictive regulations, as such actions would negatively impact Member States’ economies. The European Commission and some Member State governments keep pushing for “EU Open Strategic Autonomy”. Several EU laws have already been infused with the concept, resulting in a...

The UK’s competition regulator has adopted hard-sitting views in its assessment of transnational mergers and acquisitions. Since 2019, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has blocked a historic 59% of all mergers that were under investigation, which is double compared to the previous five years. With increased competence to set conduct requirements for large technology companies, aggressive enforcement by the CMA risks undermining Britain’s ambitions to...