Academic literature on the topic 'Financial institutions – Government policy – European Unions countries'

SUMMARY Populist parties are likely to gain consensus when mainstream parties and status quo institutions fail to manage the shocks faced by their economies. Institutional constraints, which limit the possible actions in the face of shocks, result in poorer performance and frustration among voters who turn to populist movements. We rely on this logic to explain the different support of populist parties among European countries in response to the globalization shock and to the 2008–11 financial and sovereign debt crisis. We predict a greater success of populist parties in response to these shocks in Eurozone (EZ) countries, and our empirical analysis confirms this prediction. This is consistent with voters’ frustration for the greater inability of the EZ governments to react to difficult-to-manage globalization shocks and financial crises. Our evidence has implications for the speed of construction of political unions. A slow, staged process of political unification can expose the European Union to a risk of political backlash if hard to manage shocks hit the economies during the integration process.

Summary In the article the author has attempted to realise the following goals: 1) identifying and critical assessment of the share of expenditure on research and development (R&D) in the gross domestic product (GDP) borne by business entities concentrated in four sectors (enterprises, government, higher education and private non-profit institutions) and jointly in all sectors. This meter is treated as an indirect measure of the level of managerial activity in shaping the research and development policy, 2) checking the thesis that R&D expenditure are changeable and differ in the particular Member States and does not give a clear positive picture of the systematic and dynamic growth of research and development activity in these countries. The article was developed using the following research methods: critical-cognitive analysis of the literature; statistical and comparative analysis of the “Eurostat” empirical material; the projection. The statistical and comparative analysis of the secondary empirical material “Eurostat” illustrating the share of expenditure on research and development in the gross domestic product was used to check the thesis. The results of the analysis confirm the rightness of the research thesis.

Research background: Independent fiscal councils are an example of new fiscal institutions, the number of which has rapidly increased around the world, including the EU countries since the global financial crisis of 2008–09. A further deterioration of public finance has provoked many economists to intensify disputes regarding the optimal shape, functions and effectiveness of fiscal councils responsible for promoting sound fiscal policy. Given this, a research focus on independent fiscal councils, active in the public debate in Europe, seems intellectually attractive. Purpose of the article: This article aims to explore the impact of Independent Fiscal Councils on fiscal performance, paying particular attention to their mandate, tasks and institutional models which can strengthen the achievement of fiscal discipline in the EU countries. In connection with this, the question arises about the effectiveness of fiscal councils, especially in the case of institutions that were compulsorily created under the external pressure (at the European level) and found no strong political support in national parliaments. Methods: Descriptive analysis along with panel data analysis were implemented to show the role of fiscal councils in enhancing fiscal discipline in the EU countries in years 2006–17 on the basis of data collected by the European Commission. Findings & Value added: The improvement in fiscal performance and better macroeconomic and budgetary forecasts can be achieved thanks to well-designed fiscal councils supported by appropriate fiscal rules. The conducted analysis confirms that independent fiscal councils are the useful mechanism introducing indirect social control over government revenues and expenditures. This means greater fiscal transparency and lower fiscal illusion between the government and the electorate. Due to the increase in the transparency of public finance, it is possible to reduce the ‘partisan’ deficit bias that contributes to public debt growth. The empirical research extends the existing knowledge on the role of fiscal councils and their impact on fiscal performance.

The Eurozone banking and sovereign debt crisis has brought the fragility of the European monetary union into sharp focus and exposed the lack of effective instruments at the European level to maintain financial stability. As a response to the crisis, the Member States and the institutions of the Union adopted in short succession several financial assistance measures that have given rise to much political and legal controversy. The European Central Bank (ECB) played an active role in the institutions' efforts to contain the crisis and prevent the disintegration of the Eurozone by deploying a number of so-called non-standard or unconventional monetary policy measures, namely its Securities Markets Programme, Long-Term Refinancing Operations, and in September 2012 the Outright Monetary Transactions Programme (OMT Programme). The OMT Decision envisages unlimited purchases by the ECB of specific types of sovereign bonds issued by Member States participating in an EFSF/ESM macroeconomic adjustment or precautionary program in the secondary market. Without the program having been activated, i.e. without the ECB actually implementing the decision and without any purchases of government bonds, yields on bonds of the affected Eurozone countries decreased markedly after the announcement of the OMT Decision. The OMT Programme has accordingly been credited with having been instrumental in restoring financial stability and preventing a breakup of the Euro area and with being one of the most effective announcements any central bank has ever made.

<em>The relationship between government debt, exports and economic growth has been the focus of a considerable number of academic studies in recent years. The economic crisis, which started in the United States mortgage market, quickly went global when mortgage-backed securities traded by financial institutions. Europe’s response was immediate regarding the measures to tackle the crisis. The establishment of common strategies was the long term goal of the European Union (EU). This paper examines the relationship between government debt, exports and economic growth in the EU countries with the highest level of government debt, using panel data over the period 1990-2014. The Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) methods are used to estimate the long run relationship between the variables. In addition, the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) is used in order to investigate the causal relationship between the examined variables. The empirical results of the study revealed that there are both short and long run relationships. Findings suggest that that there is a unidirectional causality running from exports to economic growth as well as from exports and economic growth to government debt. The results provide evidence to support the export led-growth hypothesis. Exports are an important factor for economic development. Moreover, the results reveal that government debt is affected by exports both directly and indirectly through economic growth. Policy implications are then explored in the conclusions.</em>

The policy of Ukraine for the establishment and development of relations with the European Union began in 1993, was carried out all the years of Ukraine’s existence, and received intensive deepening with the beginning of the formation of an international treaty – the Association Agreement, which includes a list of legal, social, economic, and technical regulations, and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), in 2014 and its final signing in 2017. Political and economic objectives of the Agreement are of fundamental importance to the future of both Ukraine and the whole European region. The political goal is to implement European standards on the territory of Ukraine. This implies the introduction of fundamental European values, namely democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and the standards of the European security system. The Agreement does not foresee membership in the European Union, however, does not exclude such an opportunity in the future. The economic goal is to help to modernize the Ukrainian economy by expanding trade volumes with the EU and other countries, as well as reforming economic regulation mechanisms in line with the best European practices. Subject to the improvement of the business climate, Ukraine will become attractive for foreign and domestic investment for further production for export to the EU and other markets of the world. Harmonization of standards and European regulations has become a much more important process than the fulfilment of strictly technical requirements and underlies the introduction of effective governance without corruption. In the process of harmonization of interaction, an adaptive institutional mechanism was formed (the highest level – annual Summits; the key coordinator is the Association Council, consisting of members of the Council of the European Union and members of the European Commission, and members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine; the level of operational coordination – the Association Parliamentary Committee, which includes members of the European Parliament, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and the Civil Society Platform; in order to coordinate processes on the territory of Ukraine, the Ukrainian government has introduced a few supervisory committees and commissions). The harmonization of the economic aspect of the mechanism has been determined in solving issues of openness of markets for duty-free import from Ukraine in April 2014, obtaining a visa-free regime with the EU, abolishing export-import tariffs, implementing European technical standards for food safety, phytosanitary norms, competition policy, service provision, and public procurement policy. The issues of further deepening of relations include a review of the terms for the introduction of regulations and legislative provisions before their actual implementation, stabilization of financial and economic processes in the country, and further development of democratic values and social institutions.

The reforms carried out recently in the Republic of Uzbekistan have caused a wide discussion. For many, the speed with which the liberalization of the economy is carried out, as well as the scale of transformations, came as a surprise. Being one of the most closed economies in the post-Soviet space five years ago, Uzbekistan managed not only to catch up with the progressive countries of the former Soviet Union, but also to do so with relatively small social consequences. As shown in the article, the “Uzbek miracle” was caused by three factors. Firstly, the reforms were prepared in advance. Secondly, after the change in the policy of multilateral development banks in terms of the conditions they set for issuing loans to governments, recapitalizing (in some cases) these organizations and optimizing their balance sheets, their ability to provide loans has expanded. In addition, criticism from the international community has stimulated multilateral development banks to take a more careful approach to the choice of tools used when working with borrowing states and literally “create” stories of successful transformation of national economies. Thirdly, the national development Institutes of the People’s Republic of China and Japan have been active in working with the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan to implement projects aimed at modernizing the old and building new infrastructure. They have invested significant resources to transform certain sectors of the Uzbek economy. Financial institutions of European and Arab states also cooperate with the Uzbek government.Based on the matrix of projects compiled with the volumes of planned investments in the context of institutions and spheres of economic activity, the author pointed out sectors of the Uzbek economy that are the most attractive for individual foreign economic partners of the republic. The rapid growth of the state external debt of the republic has caused a discussion in the country about the effectiveness of the use of foreign loans, as well as the establishment of an upper limit on international borrowing. At the current stage, the Republic of Uzbekistan does not intend to reduce the amount of assistance it attracts from international financial organizations (at the same time, the public debt ceiling will still be set), since, together with loans, these institutions, as a rule, allocate funds free of charge for the preparation of projects and advisory assistance to the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Introduction. One of the key contradictions in the modern market relations is associated with the phenomena of deglobalization. It is the practice of the European Union with respect to supranational influence on fiscal relations of economic agents and the “trumponomics” that have confirmed the need to further increase the effectiveness of international tax and budget regulatory institutions. Problem Statement. The modern fiscal policy in market economies aims at regulating the distribution of resources between the private and public sectors with minimal impact of inflationary or deflationary fluctuations on the producer price index. Government actions that mobilize market potential shall include elements of fiscal reform related to a set of targeted measures to reduce the growth rate of the monetary aggregates. Purpose. To identify the main directions of a systemic strengthening of fiscal functions of governments, primarily, in countering the threats of destabilization in the presence of dynamic phenomena of globalization and their further multiplication. Мaterials and Мethods. The methods of position-time situational analysis and synthesis have been used; the dynamics of statistical macroeconomic indicators (GDP) within the framework of various systematic model assessments of the tax reform impact have been compared. Results. Both the positive and the negative experience of implementing programs for international financial institutions and governments of different countries aim at achieving the goals of full employment and sustainable development with the help of revenue and budgetary means of demand management and established monetary leverages have been considered. Recommendations for improvement of regulatory fiscal effects on Ukraine’s socio-economic system (SES) stability growth have been justified in the light of current trends of change management. Conclusions. Rational tax policy shall provide for the improvement of legislative mechanisms in combination with the formation and use of costs, stimulating the saving of resources with a view to their best practical use. In the context of globalization and increasing threats of information asymmetry with the existence of various technological paradigms in the SES, regulations shall be based on establishing transparent “game rules”. Mandatory payments shall come from sources of business income rather than from capital, because the use of the latter for paying taxes is contrary to the interests of investors and the goals of sustainable growth.

The purpose of the article is to systematize and generalize the experience of leading countries to form and implement an effective crisis management system; to clarify the role of the state in the formation and implementation of anti-crisis regulation strategy of the real sector of the economy, as well as to substantiate the main methodological provisions of its formation. The subject-matter of the study is the methodological and conceptual foundations of the process of the effective crisis management system of the USA, China, Japan, the EU and Ukraine. Methodology. The research is based on the set of well-known general scientific and special methods of research in economics. In particular, the dialectical method, the method of scientific abstraction, the method of systematic analysis, economic and mathematical modeling has been used in the article. Conclusion. The world experience of solving the problems of enterprise bankruptcy is generalized. The experience of the USA, Japan, China, the countries of the European Union is considered. The econometric model taking into account the heteroskedasticity of the residues shows that an increase of 1% Central government debt, bank capital to assets ratio, expense, exports of goods and services, foreign direct investment, net inflows will increase GDP by 2.41%, 1.53%, 1.23%, 2.03%, and 1.19% respectively in the studied countries. Examining the experience in the field of crisis management, it should be noted that in Europe there is a selective approach aimed at stimulating the activities of specific companies; public sector priorities are education, health care, pensions, and the labor market. In addition, in some countries in order to find innovative structures of enterprises, increase their competitiveness and efficiency, out of the crisis, the development of privatization programs is used, which in each country have their own characteristics. World experience shows that the models of anti-crisis management constructed in different countries of the world provide various potential opportunities for progressive socio-economic changes. However, none of them can be used in its pure form in the formation of anti-crisis management policy in Ukraine. This is due to the conditions of accumulation of this experience by countries, the formation of mechanisms and institutions in a balanced economy, differences in the construction of financial and credit mechanisms, and so on. The use of positive experience should be the first step towards reforming the crisis management system.

The main goal of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms of the influence of NGOs on public policy-making in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement on December 14, 1995 in Paris. The sharp increase in the number of NGOs occurs immediately after the Dayton Accords, and according to some estimates, there were more than 1,500 at the time, which cannot be considered a large number when compared to the number of NGOs in other transition countries. Data from the Collective Register of Foundations and Associations in Bosnia and Herzegovina state that their total number is 25,646, while the number of actually active is difficult to determine. The literature so far has been presented from the non-governmental sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina to a significant extent for public policy making, as well as research results and these claims primarily based on the number of qualitative impact diaries of individual NGOs (case studies). This research paper aims at systematic research of the domain of influence of the non-governmental sector, through quantitative analysis of newly collected data on the influence of non-governmental organizations. The survey was proven at the local, cantonal, authorial and state level on a representative and stratified sample (10% - according to the statistical method) and was trained by the leadership and activists of non-governmental organizations and government officials (ministries and state administrative organizations). One of the main assumptions is that by successfully networking with organizations from neighboring EU member states, NGOs become a respectable actor in public policy-making in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to quantitative analysis, this paper provides a detailed overview and theoretical analysis of civil society, NGO sector and public policies as well as a comparative insight into institutional and non-institutional mechanisms of NGO influence on public policy making in Bosnia and Herzegovina and their practical application in neighboring countries European Union. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the role of the non-governmental sector (association) in public advocacy and the analysis and comparison of current theories of the legal policy framework, structure, size, factors of development of the non-governmental sector. In addition, the paper contributes to the assessment of the current state of the mechanism of influence on the creation of public policy agendas in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the formulation of measures for internal structures and networking of NGOs and the definition of their number, structure and types. The problem of the research is reflected in the fact that the started processes of transformation and the unfinished process of transition of the Bosnian society and civil sector are, due to the war destructions, significantly slowed down. Changes in society in the pre-war phase created realistic preconditions for the development of the non-governmental sector and civil society in general, and provided a realistic basis for influencing the advocacy and creation of various public policies. In the post-war period, international donors invested heavily in the NGO sector. The subject of this research is the influence of the non-governmental sector on policy-making processes, through knowledge of institutional mechanisms, as well as the correlation of the non-governmental sector and public policies from the aspect of democracy development as an integral process in all its aspects. Given that this topic has previously been partially addressed in this context, through a systematic review of the problem and offering an adequate solution to the problem, it is necessary to re-examine the key issues. The key issues explored within this paper are how networking with neighboring EU Member States has a positive impact (has a positive association) on the importance of NGOs in advocating for public policies. In addition, the extent to which financial support from EU institutions has a positive impact on the importance of NGOs in advocating for public policies has been explored.

Defence date: 20 July 2018
Examining Board: Professor Stefan Grundmann, European University Institute; Professor Klaus Heine, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Professor Giorgio Monti, European University Institute; Professor Pietro Sirena, Università commerciale Luigi Bocconi
In the past 20 years, the European integration process has been mostly successful at establishing a single European market. However, no such success can be attributed to the establishment of an economic and monetary union. The recent financial and sovereign debt crisis dramatically exposed all the flaws and weaknesses of this ambitious project, which led the European Union into a deep economic and political crisis. In this context, the task of scholars and academics should be to explore new effective and efficient alternative in order to strengthen and create “a more perfect union”. On these premises and considerations, the present research will analyze the current legal framework of the European Monetary Union in order to assess and understand its success, and explore possible alternative institutional designs which could be more effective in achieving its objectives and, at the same time, be potentially more efficient and legittimate. More in details, after examining in the first chapter, the origin and evolution of the economic and monetary integration from its very foundation, and, in the second chapter, the current legal structure of the economic union; the last and third chapter represents the normative claim of thesis. In an attempt to reconcile both law and economics, this normative part will involve a balancing exercise between the economic concepts of effectiveness and efficiency, and the legal concepts of legitimacy. The analysis will first understand and assess the effectiveness of the present governance structure. We will argue that the fundamental problem of the present governance structure is given by its many internal inconsistencies. On these premises, we will claim that it is possible to design an alternative regime which could potentially solve such issues and thus be more effective. The resulting three different alternative regimes will then be compared and evaluated in terms of their efficiency, according to the new institutional economics approach. The purpose of the efficiency evaluation is not to identify the single most efficient system of governance, but rather to understand the distinctive strenghts and weaknesses of the various alternatives in comparison with the current structure. Ultimately, the chapter will also evaluate the current EMU structure under a legitimacy standpoint. In particular, it will try to assess and understand whether these potentially more effective and efficient alternative arrangements would also improve the EMU under a legitimacy standpoint.

Defence date: 17 October 2016
Examining Board: Professor Adrienne Héritier, European University Institute (Supervisor) ; Professor Ulrich Krotz, European University Institute / RSCAS (Co-Supervisor) ; Professor Amy Verdun, University of Victoria ; Professor Lucia Quaglia, University of York
Why and how do composite actors such as states or international institutions emerge as political leaders? Moreover, once in charge, how do they influence policy or institutional change? What are the conditions for successful leadership? These questions become particularly relevant in times of crisis. However, there is no political science theory that explains the emergence and the impact of leadership when exercised by composite actors. In the context of the Eurozone crisis, we observe that neither Germany, which is the actor most frequently called upon to assume leadership, nor any of the EU’s institutional actors have emerged as leader under all circumstances. Instead, we find three different outcomes: no leadership, failed leadership, and successful leadership. This thesis develops a theoretical model to explain this variation and to address the stated gap in the literature. Building on rational-institutionalist assumptions, it argues that leaders can help a group to enhance collective action when there are no, or only incomplete, institutional rules to do so. Thus, especially in times of crisis, leaders can act as drivers of policy or institutional change. However, they emerge only if the expected benefits of leading exceed the costs of it, and if the potential followers suffer high status quo costs. A leader’s impact on the outcomes, by contrast, depends on its power resources, the distribution of preferences, and the institutional constraint. The model is applied to Germany’s role in the first financial assistance to Greece, the proposal to establish a so-called ‘super-commissioner’, and the shaping of the Fiscal Compact. Moreover, the attitude of the European Commission and the European Parliament towards the issue of Eurobonds as well as the European Central Bank’s launch of the Outright Monetary Transactions are analysed on the basis of congruence tests and rigorous process-tracing. These within-case analyses are complemented by a cross-case comparison in order to enhance the external validity of the results. The analysis draws on 35 semi-structured élite interviews conducted at the German Ministry of Finance, the European Central Bank, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, and two Permanent Representations in Brussels.

This chapter provides an overview of the origins and evolution of the euro crisis as a whole, as the backdrop to examining the country-specific financial rescue programs. It reviews the economics of the crisis and governments’ loss of access to financial markets during the acute phase, 2010–13. The chapter addresses the overall response to the crisis on the part of the European institutions and euro-area member states, best characterized as “muddling through.” The response nonetheless bought time for the introduction of unconventional monetary policy on the part of the European Central Bank and of new financial facilities and steps toward banking union on the part of governments. The chapter then reviews the design of the programs for countries in Central and Eastern Europe, especially for Latvia, over which the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund clashed strongly. The two institutions began to work out their modus vivendi during these early programs, precursors to the euro crisis.

The paradox of financial control refers to the fact that while most governments resent or resist incursions on national bank ownership or management, European states with high levels of foreign bank ownership paid much lower costs through the recent financial crises than countries that had pursued banking sector protectionism. Europe is an ideal setting in which to investigate this paradox because extreme banking sector openness in the East coincided with banking sector protectionism in many western Eurozone countries. The otherwise homogenous institutional context of the European Union therefore revealed with precision the disparate effects of marketized bank–state ties through foreign bank ownership versus national control over banks via domestic ownership or management. While foreign bank ownership mitigated economic volatility in crises, marketized bank–state ties also limited or threatened to limit economic policy autonomy.

This study is devoted to a generalized analysis of modern public processes for the formation of new mechanisms of crisis management and the regional management reform practice in the field of education, which are gradually carried out in the context of general reform and new strategies. The special relevance of modern education management practices is noted, among which are formation of new management concepts in the conditions of emergencies and crisis; redistribution of areas of responsibility between the region and territorial communities; revival of partnership interaction of public authorities with civil society institutions; implementation of state policy through new contexts of forming a network of educational institutions, resource provision and budgeting; strategy for the development of the educational sphere through the implementation of investment infrastructure projects; expanding the scope of educational services in accordance with community requests, etc. European experience in active decentralization, which will stimulate sustainable community development, successful overcoming of crises and building a strategy for regional development shows the development of a systematic vision of the local situation in education and other social spheres that prevent socio-economic crises; active and effective communicative action “state-community”, which is aimed at deep democracy, sustainable development, unity, transparency of public institutions; humancenteredness on the basis of social democracy, involvement of citizens in various government procedures in communities; impact on the sustainable development of local democracy and financial self-sufficiency of the community; sustainable development of the public sector of the community, improving the quality of life / activities / human education. The basis of public activity of the authorities is a consistent communicative action that will promote the in-depth development of mutual trust, openness and efficiency. The subject of the study was the management vertical of the region and education management. The research methodology can be outlined as follows: understanding and worldview, which outline the operating environment of self-discipline analysis, forecasting, modeling, diagnosis and work with information, models, algorithms, cognitive, practical and evaluative, which complement each other in real life. The purpose of the study: to systematically generalize modern management processes of public authorities in anti-crisis strategies and new relevant mechanisms of organizational activities of public institutions of Dnipropetrovsk region, which are aimed at sustainable development of society and man, soft overcoming of growth problems through mechanisms of organizational and managerial overcoming of educational crises. areas in the region. The study found that the systematic activities of public institutions in the region, models of involvement of public institutions contribute to sustainable community development and form effective resilience to crises, restore confidence in government by citizens, improve the quality of local infrastructure projects in education, strengthen positive social trends – economic indicators of the community.

The purpose of this report is to compare the risk communication strategies and public health mitigation measures implemented by Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic based on publicly available documents. The report compares the country responses both in relation to one another and to the recommendations and guidance of the World Health Organization where available. The comparative report is an output of Work Package 1 from the research project PAN-FIGHT (Fighting pandemics with enhanced risk communication: Messages, compliance and vulnerability during the COVID-19 outbreak), which is financially supported by the Norwegian Research Council's extraordinary programme for corona research. PAN-FIGHT adopts a comparative approach which follows a “most different systems” variation as a logic of comparison guiding the research (Przeworski & Teune, 1970). The countries in this study include two EU member States (Sweden, Germany), one which was engaged in an exit process from the EU membership (the UK), and two non-European Union states, but both members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA): Norway and Switzerland. Furthermore, Germany and Switzerland govern by the Continental European Federal administrative model, with a relatively weak central bureaucracy and strong subnational, decentralised institutions. Norway and Sweden adhere to the Scandinavian model—a unitary but fairly decentralised system with power bestowed to the local authorities. The United Kingdom applies the Anglo-Saxon model, characterized by New Public Management (NPM) and decentralised managerial practices (Einhorn & Logue, 2003; Kuhlmann & Wollmann, 2014; Petridou et al., 2019). In total, PAN-FIGHT is comprised of 5 Work Packages (WPs), which are research-, recommendation-, and practice-oriented. The WPs seek to respond to the following research questions and accomplish the following: WP1: What are the characteristics of governmental and public health authorities’ risk communication strategies in five European countries, both in comparison to each other and in relation to the official strategies proposed by WHO? WP2: To what extent and how does the general public’s understanding, induced by national risk communication, vary across five countries, in relation to factors such as social capital, age, gender, socio-economic status and household composition? WP3: Based on data generated in WP1 and WP2, what is the significance of being male or female in terms of individual susceptibility to risk communication and subsequent vulnerability during the COVID-19 outbreak? WP4: Based on insight and knowledge generated in WPs 1 and 2, what recommendations can we offer national and local governments and health institutions on enhancing their risk communication strategies to curb pandemic outbreaks? WP5: Enhance health risk communication strategies across five European countries based upon the knowledge and recommendations generated by WPs 1-4. Pre-pandemic preparedness characteristics All five countries had pandemic plans developed prior to 2020, which generally were specific to influenza pandemics but not to coronaviruses. All plans had been updated following the H1N1 pandemic (2009-2010). During the SARS (2003) and MERS (2012) outbreaks, both of which are coronaviruses, all five countries experienced few cases, with notably smaller impacts than the H1N1 epidemic (2009-2010). The UK had conducted several exercises (Exercise Cygnet in 2016, Exercise Cygnus in 2016, and Exercise Iris in 2018) to check their preparedness plans; the reports from these exercises concluded that there were gaps in preparedness for epidemic outbreaks. Germany also simulated an influenza pandemic exercise in 2007 called LÜKEX 07, to train cross-state and cross-department crisis management (Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk, 2007). In 2017 within the context of the G20, Germany ran a health emergency simulation exercise with WHO and World Bank representatives to prepare for potential future pandemics (Federal Ministry of Health et al., 2017). Prior to COVID-19, only the UK had expert groups, notably the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), that was tasked with providing advice during emergencies. It had been used in previous emergency events (not exclusively limited to health). In contrast, none of the other countries had a similar expert advisory group in place prior to the pandemic. COVID-19 waves in 2020 All five countries experienced two waves of infection in 2020. The first wave occurred during the first half of the year and peaked after March 2020. The second wave arrived during the final quarter. Norway consistently had the lowest number of SARS-CoV-2 infections per million. Germany’s counts were neither the lowest nor the highest. Sweden, Switzerland and the UK alternated in having the highest numbers per million throughout 2020. Implementation of measures to control the spread of infection In Germany, Switzerland and the UK, health policy is the responsibility of regional states, (Länders, cantons and nations, respectively). However, there was a strong initial centralized response in all five countries to mitigate the spread of infection. Later on, country responses varied in the degree to which they were centralized or decentralized. Risk communication In all countries, a large variety of communication channels were used (press briefings, websites, social media, interviews). Digital communication channels were used extensively. Artificial intelligence was used, for example chatbots and decision support systems. Dashboards were used to provide access to and communicate data.