As the debate on Europe’s crisis fighting strategy deepens with the leak of a critical IMF document pointing to deep flaws in the European decision-making process, the Lisbon Council launches a new policy brief, Lessons from Three Years of Euro-Area Crisis Fighting: Getting It Right Next Time. Written by Alessandro Leipold, chief economist of the Lisbon Council and former acting director of the European Department at the International Monetary Fund, the policy brief offers a nine-point strategy for improving decision making and fighting the European crisis more effectively.

In 2012-2013, 12 students from the College of Europe were competitively selected to take part in a project on state transformation. They were divided into three teams of four students. Working together with Accenture, the staff and faculty of the College of Europe and the Lisbon Council, each team was asked to evaluate the challenges of a state agency.

On the eve of the European Council Spring Summit on 14-15 March, the Lisbon Council launches a new policy paper series — Economic Intelligence, Up-to-the-Minute Analysis from Chief Economist Alessandro Leipold. In this series, Mr. Leipold — who joined the Lisbon Council in 2010 after a distinguished career in economics, international finance, banking, the European institutions and the International Monetary Fund, where he served as acting director of the European Department until 2008 — will offer real-time analysis on European political and economic developments. His first Economic Intelligence commentary is devoted to the upcoming European Council meeting, in which he examines key issues on the European Council agenda and proposes a four-point "will-do" programme to restore confidence and drive growth.

The 2012 Euro Plus Monitor, the authoritative competitiveness ranking jointly published each year by Berenberg Bank and the Lisbon Council, ranks the 17 eurozone countries on a range of key macro-economic indicators. It provides a comprehensive view of progress – and retreat – throughout the European currency zone. Specifically, this innovative ranking is based on two key indicators: 1) the Fundamental Health Indicator, which looks at individual countries’ overall economic health, and 2) the Adjustment Progress Indicator, which measures the speed with which countries are adjusting to the challenges posed by the financial and economic crisis. This year, The 2012 Euro Plus Monitor expands to include three major non-eurozone economies – Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom – and assesses these countries’ performance on key criteria vis-à-vis their eurozone counterparts. 

In the presence of European Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes, the Lisbon Council launched Intellectual Property and Innovation: A Framework for 21st Century Growth and Jobs. In this timely report, ten leading European intellectual property thought leaders offer strategic advice on how to enhance the existing intellectual property regime for the digital age – and in turn boost innovation, encourage creativity and generate much-needed growth and jobs. Ian Hargreaves, professor of digital economy at Cardiff University and author of the high-level Digital Opportunity report prepared for UK Prime Minister David Cameron, contributed the Foreword. The study was co-edited by Prof. Hargreaves and Paul Hofheinz, president of the Lisbon Council.