Suchergebnisse

Abstract
Economic policy advice often reveals conflicting objectives. Using the example of the German Council of Economic Experts' evidence-based policy advice, this article presents institutionalised procedures for consensus and dissent in the preparation of its annual report. While consensus is sought in the first two stages of primary data and data analysis, dissent regularly occurs in the third stage of reaching policy conclusions. Dissent is institutionalised through the possibility of authoring minority votes.

Die Corona-Krise hat alle Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union getroffen - allerdings einige früher und härter als andere. Nun soll ein immens großer Rettungsschirm aufgespannt werden, über dessen Finanzierung, Konditionen und mögliche Auflagen die EU-Mitglieder noch streiten. Auch die Ebenen, auf der die Maßnahmen organisiert werden sollen, sind noch nicht ausbalanciert. Welche Bedeutung kommt dabei der nationalen, welche der supranationalen Ebene zu? Geht es vor allem um die Europäische Währungsunion oder um die gesamte EU? Solidarisches Verhalten gebietet nicht allein die europäische Idee, sondern auch die ökonomische Notwendigkeit, da die Mitgliedstaaten über Lieferketten stark miteinander verflochten sind. ; The Coronavirus crisis has affected al of thel member states in the European Union - but some earlier and harder than others. A large rescue package is to be set up, the financing, conditions and possible requirements of which are still being disputed by EU members. The levels at which the measures are to be organised have not yet been established either. What is the importance of the national level or the supranational leves? Is it primarily about the European Monetary Union or about the EU as a whole? Solidarity is not only required by the European idea, but also by economic necessity, since the member states are strongly connected by their supply chains.

Abstract
Despite some progress, German macroeconomists are generally dissatisfied with access to important data in Germany. Legal, technical and organisational obstacles abound, in particular as far as mergers of data sets from heterogeneous sources are concerned. This article suggests a number of concrete measures, including legal changes, to improve the situation. Easy access to a variety of data sources is a necessary condition for the design, evaluation, and thus, for the improvement of macroeconomic policies. Better informed decisions are also less prone to be influenced by lobbyists.

Die Stellungnahme stellt heraus, welche Probleme beim Datenzugang aus makroökonomischer Perspektive bestehen. Hierzu zählt neben der verbesserungswürdigen Datenverfügbarkeit insbesondere die fehlende Möglichkeit der Datenverknüpfung. Lösungsansätze - beispielsweise die Ansiedelung eines Dateninstituts bei Destatis zur Verbesserung der Datenverknüpfbarkeit oder die Bereitstellung von öffentlich verfügbaren, tief aggregierten Daten - werden aufgezeigt. Hierbei wird auch die notwendige Verbesserung der rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen herausgestellt.

The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022 has intensified the discussion of Europe's reliance on energy imports from Russia. A ban on Russian imports of oil, natural gas and coal has already been imposed by the United States, while the United Kingdom plans to cease imports of oil and coal from Russia by the end of 2022. The German Federal Government is currently opposing an energy embargo against Russia. However, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action is working on a strategy to reduce energy imports from Russia. In this paper, the authors give an overview of the German and European reliance on energy imports from Russia with a focus on gas imports and discuss price effects, alternative suppliers of natural gas, and the potential for saving and replacing natural gas. They also provide an overview of estimates of the consequences on the economic outlook if the conflict intensifies.

The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022 has intensified the discussion of Europe's reliance on energy imports from Russia. A ban on Russian imports of oil, natural gas and coal has already been imposed by the United States, while the United Kingdom plans to cease imports of oil and coal from Russia by the end of 2022. The German Federal Government is currently opposing an energy embargo against Russia. However, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action is working on a strategy to reduce energy imports from Russia. In this paper, the authors give an overview of the German and European reliance on energy imports from Russia with a focus on gas imports and discuss price effects, alternative suppliers of natural gas, and the potential for saving and replacing natural gas. They also provide an overview of estimates of the consequences on the economic outlook if the conflict intensifies.

[Introduction] The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine since 24 February 2022 has intensified the discussion of Europe's reliance on energy imports from Russia. A ban on Russian imports of oil, natural gas and coal has already been imposed by the United States, while the United Kingdom plans to cease imports of oil and coal from Russia by the end of 2022. The European Commission has announced on 5 April 2022 to ban coal imports from Russia (Europäische Kommission, 2022a). It has been wrestling with the idea of an oil and gas embargo against Russia. At the same time, Russia may decide to stop its energy exports to countries that are imposing sanctions. The German Federal Government is currently opposing an energy embargo against Russia (BMWK, 2022a). However, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) is working on a strategy to reduce energy imports from Russia (BMWK, 2022b, 2022c). The urgency to reduce dependency on Russian gas seemed to have increased particularly after the Russian president announced Russia would accept only the Russian currency Ruble for energy exports - even though the issue seems to have been solved by energy importers opening accounts at the Gazprom bank. On 30 March 2022 the BMWK has declared early warning, i.e., the first of three crises levels according to the emergency plan for gas (BMWK, 2022d), which is based on the EU regulation 2017/1938 concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply (BMWK, 2022d). The crisis level of early warning primarily serves at improving information flows and cooperation between the relevant authorities; currently, no market intervention is undertaken. In this paper we first give an overview of the German and European reliance on energy imports from Russia with a focus on gas imports (Section II) and we discuss price effects (Section II.1), alternative suppliers of natural gas (Section II.2), and the potential for saving and replacing natural gas (Section II.3). In Section III, we provide an overview of estimates of the consequences on the economic outlook if the conflict intensifies. Section IV concludes.