Call for Essays - Five years of an enlarged EU – a positive–sum game (reference ECFIN/G/2008/007)

On 1 May 2009, it will be five years since the accession of 10 new Member States. To mark this important event, the European Commission is undertaking a review of the experience of both old and new Member States in the enlarged EU. In view of the vast topic covered by the review and to support its own analysis, the Commission invites leading economists to write essays which provide a deep and well founded insight into the functioning of the enlarged EU.

Each essay will tackle one of four topics listed below:

• Trade and foreign direct investment in an enlarged EU: opportunities and challenges
  (102 kB)  
• Migration in an enlarged EU: solution or problem for labour market woes and cash-strapped social security systems? (101 kB)  
  
• Financial integration and stability in an enlarged EU (99 kB)  
• Integration, openness and growth: did accession make a difference? (101 kB)  
  

A detailed description of each topic, including a summary of specific questions to be addressed, can be found in the attached terms of reference.

The Commission invites submissions of essay outlines to the European Commission's Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN). Essays shall deal with no more than one of the four topics listed above. Essays can be co-authored but  a person can be contracted to work on no more than one essay either as sole author or co-author (40 kB)   (rtf).

The final essays will be original work created in response to this call for essays and should be roughly 15,000 words in length. Authors will be required to send electronically a provisional draft to DG ECFIN by 15 September 2008 for comments. They are also required to send a full draft of their essay during the week of 27 to 31 October 2008 and present it  at the workshop organised by the DG ECFIN in Brussels on 13-14 November 2008. Authors will be required to submit electronically the final version of their essay by 15 December 2008.

A set fee of €6,000 will be paid for each essay irrespective of whether they are authored or co-authored.  In addition, the Commission will cover travel and accommodation (hotel and breakfast) costs incurred while attending the workshop in Brussels, and will provide a daily allowance in line with the contract provisions. All payments will be made in accordance with a service contract which must be signed before work on the essay begins (210 kB)   .

Selection criteria

A selection committee will be set up to evaluate valid submissions aiming at 8 essays to be selected on the basis of the following criteria.

(1)    The clarity of the submission as assessed by the precision with which it (i) explains how the topic will be addressed, (ii) discusses the theoretical and empirical techniques that will be used to analyse specific issues, and (iii) explains the policy relevance of this analysis.
(2)    The quality of the submission as measured by its potential to provide robust economic analysis that offers value-added vis-à-vis the existing academic literature on enlargement and its effect.
(3)    The high-standing of the author/co-authors as demonstrated by academic excellence and a track record of publishing research on issues related to enlargement in leading journals. To facilitate this assessment, the submission should include an up-to-date curriculum vitae for the author/co-authors.

Deadline for submission: 15 April 2008

Interested parties should submit their essay outlines and curriculum vitae (including the co-author's) electronically by 15 April 2008 to the e-mail address PROJECT-ENLARGEMENT5@ec.europa.eu clearly mentioning in the subject line of the e-mail the essay topic. This mailbox is reserved solely for submissions. Candidates will be informed in due time of the outcome of the selection procedure.

Further information

The final essays will be considered for publication, also on internet, in an edited volume to be issued at the occasion the fifth anniversary of the 2004 enlargement.

For further information please contact Filip Keereman or Istvan Szekely.