Insights

In the second of our Future of Europe series, we look at three aspects of the sovereign debt crisis: the stagnation of the region’s economies, closer integration and the future expansion of Europe.

The past 12 months have seen women take the lead in some of the toughest economic and political environments, and they also head governments in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil and Thailand.

Recovery from the financial crisis remains uncertain across both mature and emerging markets. During the past 12 months we have seen volatile commodity prices, disruptions in supply chains, political uprisings and natural disasters.

Through our International Business Report we’ve been keeping track of global figures on the appetites for both domestic and cross-border transactions since 2008.

In 1951, in the aftermath of the Second World War, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands came together to found the European Union.