Economic Crisis Introductory Remarks the Thesis

Ergo, the role of the EU seems to be that of implementing protectionist policies. These would be developed onto three simultaneous directions.

A first set of policies would revolve around the creation of a new market architecture at the EU level. This would strengthen the EU's position in the face of future challenges by:

ensuring a sustained and strong support from central banks allowing banks to rapidly implement the rescue plans, and allowing the Union to rapidly implement decisive methods that would prevent the expansion of the crisis to other countries (Commission of the European Communities, 2008).

A second set of strategies revolves around the necessity to really analyze the impacts the crisis has had upon the real economy and find ways in which to improve the real economy. These policies would combine short-term solutions to issues in need of rapid response as well as long-term projects. The short-term solutions would be specific and dependent on the unique features of each problem. The long terms policies would revolve around:

increasing investment in R&D innovation and education promoting flexicurity as way of protecting and equipping people rather than specific jobs freeing up businesses, especially SMEs, to build markets at home and internationally enhancing European competitiveness by continuing to green our economy as a way of creating new jobs and technologies, overcoming our energy security constraints and achieving our environmental goals" (Commission of the European Communities, 2008).

Finally, the third set of policies, as emphasized by the U.K. government, is that of taking a global action in response to the crisis. The policies have to be transparent, efficient and representative and they would act on four simultaneous fields: improving the international regulatory standards; improving cooperation and coordination between international regulators; improving the abilities to monitor and prevent a global economic crisis and finally, increasing the ability to deal with the crisis at national and regional levels (Commission of the European Communities, 2008).

4. Concluding Remarks

The financial crisis hit the global markets throughout the past financial year and the worst is yet to come for several European countries. The causes, as well as the effects, are multifaceted and the analysts fail to entirely agree on them. National and international institutions have joined forces to alleviate the negative effects of the crisis.

For the policies proposed and already implement to work, the European Union has to be fully aware of its status of an institution composed by several parties. In this order of ideas, they must be able to unify the interests and efforts of the state members and they must also implement a proper control and verification system.

References

Budowsky, B., January 22, 2008, the Economic Crisis, the Hill

Kilmister, a., December 2008, the Economic Crisis and Its Effects, World Economy, No. 407

Miller, J., Jackson, B., Who Cause the Economic Crisis? The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/who_caused_the_economic_crisis.html, last accessed on January 7, 2009

2008, What Caused the Financial Crisis of 2008? Moolanomy Financial Blog, http://www.moolanomy.com/866/what-caused-the-financial-crisis-of-2008/last accessed on January 7, 2009

January 6, 2009, UNICEF Warns of Effects of Financial Crisis on Children, the Earth Times

2008 Pre-Budget Report

2008, From Financial Crisis to Recovery: A European Framework…