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The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the increasing need for digital solutions to maintain economic and social activities remotely. Times of physical distancing made it clear that besides keeping trade running, they are crucial for education, health, work, etc. During the pandemic, e-commerce has played a growing role in global economic activity as part of the wider digital economy. As social distancing and movement restrictions become normal, businesses and consumers have become increasingly digital and provide and buy more goods and services online.

The noteworthy development in this process is that much earlier than the pandemic, in 2015, the European Commission started developing a Digital Single Market strategy which is aiming at bringing distinctive digital markets together across the Union. The Digital Single Market is a modern version of the European Union (EU) Common Market established in 1957, which allowed the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people all around the region. The fact that such an application was started long before the pandemic provided some vital advantages to the countries involved in the strategy during the pandemic process.

This study is investigating how the EU Digital Market and the policy implementations connected to it helped digital transformation of the countries of the EU. Digital Economy and Society Index, and E-Commerce and internet access data of Single Market countries are investigated within the scope of the study. The data covering 2011–2021 period is collected from the Eurostat database. When we studied the data, although it is possible to talk about a benefit for the EU in general, less developed countries of the region benefited more from the process.

The implications of the Single European Market for libraries and information services are considered with some examples of what is being done. After a general introduction to 1992, the Plan of Action for Libraries in the EC is considered and the library implications of the five Action Lines. The roles of European Documentation Centres, EC Depository Libraries, European Reference Centres; Euro Information Centres and online databases are considered, together with developments in co‐operation and also the human implications.

Considers how membership of a Single European Currency would affect Single European Currency members’ national economic sovereignty. First defines concisely national economic sovereignty. Explores economic life in the Single European Currency. A picture of a converged Single European Currency area economy emerges. Then considers what influence Single European Currency members would have on the Single European Currency area’s macroeconomic policy, finding members’ influence, their national economic sovereignty, depends on the Single European Currency’s institutional structure. Explores three institutional structures, a Council of Ministers approach, a federal approach and the Maastricht plan, the European Union’s (EU’s) actual plan for the Single European Currency. Finds that both a federal and a Council of Ministers approach appear to offer Single European Currency members some degree of national economic sovereignty, while the Maastricht plan appears to offer Single European Currency members very little national economic sovereignty. Analyses the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), to assess what national economic sovereignty EU countries currently enjoy. It becomes apparent that in order to prevent excessive exchange rate instability EU countries must set their monetary policies to the satisfaction of the Financial Market, EU free capital mobility undermining EU countries’ national economic sovereignty. The ERM’s and the Maastricht plan’s preference for price stability over democratic accountability leads to an investigation of the significance of a economy’s average inflation rate. Finds evidence of a negative correlation between EU countries average inflation rates and their private sectors level of profitability. Concludes by asking if a Single European Currency, which favours enforcement of price stability over democratic accountability, is good for European business or not.

The purpose of this paper is to test the extent of convergence in rents and yields in the European real estate office market.

The paper uses the concepts of beta‐convergence and sigma‐convergence to evaluate empirically the hypothesis of rent and yield convergence in seven European office markets during the period 1982‐2009. Because of the introduction of a single currency in January 1999, the analysis is carried out sequentially, first for the overall sample period and then the periods before and after the introduction of the single currency.

The results indicate that, irrespective of the time period considered, there is not enough statistical evidence of beta‐convergence in either rents or yields but evidence of significant sigma‐convergence in rents and yields in the European office markets under review. Additionally, some evidence is found that the introduction of the single currency in 1999 has led to increasing signs of convergence, especially in the Continental European markets.

The results show that the real estate office markets in Europe are not fully integrated and so indicate that diversification across Europe is still a viable investment strategy.

This is the first paper to use beta and sigma convergence tests on European office market data.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

MCB is not a company to rest on its laurels. In the vernacular of modern‐day management literature, the company can rightly claim to be a learning organization; one that seeks to regenerate and develop itself in accordance with current trends, most notably those in customer and market requirements.

The trade liberalising measures of the Single Market of the European Union have had a significant impact on business strategies. The establishment of European Monetary Union is also expected to have an influence on European trade since firms will be more inclined to exploit European markets. This paper brings evidence derived from a survey of South Yorkshire manufacturing companies to look at the impact of the Single Market measures on competition. Parallels are drawn with the likely reaction to the extra competition brought about by the establishment of the European Monetary Union.

Describes a field study conducted in Western Europe with top executives and management consultants in the global public accounting and consulting firms as well as top administrators in the Commission of the European Community (EC). Respondents expressed optimism about the 1992 single market programme; they saw a “global village” developing internally in the EC and the need to develop markets and tap technologies in each of the global “triad” – North America, the EC and Japan. Marketing was considered to be the most important business function to be affected by the single market developments in the EC.

The economic and financial crisis, especially the sovereign debt crisis, discovered many deficiencies and weaknesses in the banking sector in the European Union (EU). The need for special surveillance and supervision of cross-border banking cooperation and termination of the toxic link between sovereign debt and banking sector have accelerated the process of forming and establishing a Banking Union (BU). An integrated financial framework has been established in which the European Central Bank (ECB) through the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) has a key role and the responsibility for the overall supervision of the banking sector of the euro zone. The Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) and schemes of the Single Deposit Guarantee Mechanism (SDGM) are under the national supervisory authorities while the European Banking Authority (EBA) is responsible for developing the Single Rules. From the new architecture is expected the preservation of the single market and a common currency, breaking “toxic connections” between sovereign debt and banks, mitigation and removal of financial instability and economic growth. The research shows that the BU together with the ECB in a certain sense, also contributes to the normalization of credit and financial conditions in the single mark. Estimates through SSM, conducted by the ECB and the EBA, during, 2014 and 2015 on 107 banks in 21 countries indicate progress toward solvency and resilience of the banking system of the euro area. Despite some initial success the entire project BU seems to have missed on opportunities, resulted in late reactions, and was too complex to be feasible. The political will of national governments to give up sovereignty over its banking sector and transfer competencies to the supranational institutions is a key factor in the success or failure of a BU. It seems so but past experience indicates that there is no political willingness to solve problems. Mainly most of the government avoids cleaning a hidden “skeleton in closets” due to lack of means for recapitalization while some are trying for loans from the ECB to help their banks. The ECB plays a key oversight role at the EU level and has too much power, which can cause risks caused by conflicting goals. The ECB is losing the role of the final refuge of liquidity, which is the main disadvantage of a BU. The SSM is susceptible to criticism due to difficulty in operation because of slow incorporation of European legislation into national law. Slow implementation carries risks of fragmentation of the market, regardless of the responsibility of the ECB. The financial capacity of the temporary agreement with the SRM is insufficient in solving the crisis of more banks while procedural application is complex and time-consuming. Planned backstop with a centralized resource is a resolution that is insufficient for solving the failure of big systemic banks, which are too big to bail. The heterogeneity of the existing Deposit Guarantee Schemes (DGS) and the banking systems of the member states of the euro zone caused controversy in terms of setting of common insurance schemes. The procedures for the recovery and resolution of critical banks are problematic.

European air transport policy, emerged through the confluence of case law and legislation, in four broad areas: liberalization, safety and security, greening, and the external policy. Following the implementation of the single market for air transport, policy shifted to liberalizing and regulating associated services and in recent years to greening, the external aviation policy, and safety and security. Inclusion of air transport in the Environmental Trading Scheme of the European Union exemplifies the European Commission’s proactive stand on bringing the industry in line with emission reduction trajectories of other industries. However, the bid to include flights to third countries in the trading scheme pushed the EU into a controversial position, causing the Commission to halt implementation and to give ICAO time to seek a global multilateral agreement. The chapter also discusses how the nationality clauses in air services agreements breached the Treaty of Rome, and a court ruling to that effect enabled the EC to extend EU liberalization policies beyond the European Union, resulting in the Common Aviation Area with EU fringe countries and the Open Aviation Area with the USA. Another important area of progress was aviation safety, where the EU region is unsurpassed in the world, yet the Commission has pushed the boundary even further, by establishing the European Safety Agency to oversee the European Aviation Safety Management System. Another important area of regulatory development was aviation security, a major focus after the woeful events in 2001, but increasingly under industry scrutiny on costs and effectiveness. The chapter concludes by arguing that in the coming decade, the EU will strive to strengthen its position as a global countervailing power, symbolized in air transport by a leadership position in environmental policy and international market liberalization, exemplified in the EU’s external aviation policy.