Publications Archive

• As early as 2027, Germany’s social security schemes face funding shortfalls of over 50 billion euros. AI threatens to widen such shortfalls in the long term through a gradual shift from wage income to capital income.
• AI is largely invisible to statistical leading indicators. Initially, AI reduces entry-level positions and new hires without this being reflected in traditional labour market statistics.
• The cep is calling for AI satellite accounts, a binding AI review mechanism as part of pension reform, and clear rules on how the labour factor can share in AI-generated capital gains.

As early as next year, Germany’s social security systems will face funding shortfalls totalling over 50 billion euros. The Centre for European Policy (cep) shows in a new policy paper that the current reform debates underestimate the extent to which artificial intelligence (AI) could widen these gaps even further in the long term. As the financing of Germany’s social security systems relies heavily on the wage bill, a shift towards investment income structurally weakens their contribution base.

The European single market is over 30 years old and cracks are beginning to show. Whilst the US and China provide targeted support for their technology companies, Europe remains trapped in an incomplete single market and, in many key areas, in a patchwork of 27 national regulatory frameworks that cause significant friction. Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta knows this problem better than most, having produced a sensational report on the future of European integration in April 2024 on behalf of the European Commission. In conversation with Andrea De Petris, Scientific Director of the Centre for European Policy (CEP) in Rome, he does not stop at the diagnosis. He sets out concrete ways forward.

The so-called Brussels Effect is generally believed to be a strategic advantage for the EU because it means that strict EU rules are often adopted as global standards. However, a new survey by the Centre for European Policy (cep) paints a more nuanced picture. For many companies, the Brussels Effect is primarily a cost factor.

• Since the alarming reports submitted by Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi more than a year ago, there has been little progress on strengthening EU competitiveness.
• The EU has a significant problem when it comes to prioritisation and implementation. It gets lost in detail and complexity. Measures should be simple, effective and necessary.
• "Fortress Europe" cannot be the answer. We need to mobilise our own strengths with new approaches to integrating the internal market, accelerating market access for innovations and increasing independence through new trade agreements.

A well-developed cross-border infrastructure is essential for Europe's economic and social integration. Despite the EU's extensive funding policy over recent decades, there is still room for improvement in many areas of connectivity. The Centre for European Policy (cep) analyses the current obstacles and advocates a new funding strategy focused on risk management.

The Centres for European Policy Network and the Luiss Institute for European Analysis and Policy (LEAP) are pleased to invite you to the workshop ‘European Trade Diplomacy and Value Chain Reconfiguration: New Scenarios in Asia, Africa and Latin America’, organised with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), within the project ‘Nearshoring and Re-shoring in Emerging Markets: Comparative Analysis among Asia, Latin America and Africa’. The event will be held on 15 July 2025, at 14:30 at Luiss Guido Carli - Viale Romania 32, Aula 203.

Please register here. 

Too much bureaucracy jeopardises investment, inhibits innovation and weakens Europe as a business location. In a new company questioning, the Centre for European Policy (cep) shows where the greatest burdens lie - and which specific measures would actually relieve the burden on companies.

With the Omnibus I package, the EU Commission aims to simplify EU legislation on supply chains. The Centre for European Policy (cep) welcomes individual relief measures, but warns that despite the proposed changes, the bureaucratic burden on the companies affected remains too high.

Between 4 and 12 November, the Commission candidates will have to answer questions before the European Parliament.The touchstone will be the so-called Mission Letters, in which President Ursula von der Leyen assigns tasks and portfolios to the new Commissioners until 2029. The Centre for European Policy (cep) scrutinised the candidates, departments and EU initiatives, particularly with regard to the internal market and competition. The result: many things should have been more ambitious and structured.

As France struggles to break its political deadlock, confusion also reigns over its ability to continue to assert its European vision in order to influence policies in Brussels.