The respect for the rule of law is declining both in EU member states and in countries aspiring to membership. The EU therefore needs to step up its efforts and adopt a more inclusive, coherent, and transparent approach. This argument is developed by Marko Kmezić and Florian Bieber at the University of Graz. (2020:12epa)

The EU’s budget package adopted in July strengthens the Union’s financial capacity but contains concessions that imply cuts in investments for collective action. As long as each country has a veto right in the budgetary process, it will be hard to obtain resources for expenditures with a high European value added, argues Daniel Tarschys, senior advisor at SIEPS. (2020:10epa)

Following the deep euro crisis, the EU governments agreed on eurozone reforms that constituted a substantial deepening of European integration. In this report, political scientists Lisa Dellmuth, Magnus Lundgren and Jonas Tallberg analyse the dynamics behind the eurozone reform and discuss implications for future policy. (2020:4)

As the EU aims at strengthening the competitivity of European companies, the functioning of the Single Market comes to the fore. Is a more assertive industrial policy compatible with free and fair competition? This question is studied in a volume focusing on the legal instruments that govern the EU’s internal market. (2020:1op)

The present pandemic crisis brings uncertainty to the European Green Deal – the ambitious plan for environmental and climate progress. What can policymakers do if they wish to keep the green momentum? Mats Engström, senior advisor at SIEPS, offers six courses of action. (2020:8epa)

The European Commission has proposed a possibility to suspend financial transfers to Member States with deficiencies as regards the rule of law. In an analysis of the proposal, professors Armin von Bogdandy and Justyna Łacny conclude that it has merits but raises legal doubts. Suspending EU funds could also harm the people they are meant to protect. (2020:7epa)

Recently, EU leaders have repeated the message that the Union needs to be more “geopolitical”. What does this mean? Richard Youngs, professor of International Relations, analyses this ambition by questioning its underlying assumptions. Without a modern and innovative form of geopolitics, he writes, the EU’s international identity risks becoming more uncertain and ambiguous – a risk that the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to reinforce. (2020:5epa)

The long-term budget has been stable over time, hovering around 1 percent of GNI. Its core may remain in that neighbourhood, but the galaxy of satellites around it seems much more expansive. With an emerging mix of grants and loans following the COVID-19 crisis, we may soon see a long-term budget in the vicinity of 2 percent, argues Daniel Tarschys, senior advisor at Sieps and a former Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

The banking union was created to protect public finances against failing banks. Membership is mandatory for euro countries and voluntary for others. Outside of the euro area, the legal acts on supervision must however be implemented through national decisions. This and other legal differences are analysed by Dominique Ritleng, Professor of European Law. (2020:2epa)

China’s economic development and global impact are tilting the economic, political and military balances that have shaped the world since the end of the cold war. One fundamental step in China’s global strategy is the infrastructure project BRI. In this report, Svante E. Cornell and Niklas Swanström analyse its impact on the EU’s neighbourhood as well as on the European project. (2020:1)