Since his 1978 arrival in the 'Capital of Europe' as a correspondent of the Financial Times, Giles Merritt has specialised in Europe's policy challenges as a journalist and think-tanker. He's often hailed as a 'Brussels institution' by readers of his incisive and often critical commentaries on European politics and economics.

In 1999 he founded the 'Friends of Europe' think tank, and in 2010 the Financial Times named him among thirty 'Eurostars' who most influence debates on Europe's future course.

Giles Merritt writes his fortnightly 'Frankly Speaking' commentaries for 'Friends of Europe' and is also a Senior Associate Fellow at Belgium's Egmont Institute. This is his fifth book, with earlier ones that include World Out of Work, an award-winning study of unemployment (Collins 1982), and Slippery Slope: Europe's Troubled Future (Oxford University Press 2016), which was shortlisted for the European Book Prize .