European leaders are increasingly seen moving from airplanes to the negotiation table and on to photo opportunities. Summits have become commonplace. Could the increasing frequency of high-level political meetings be a symptom and a cause of power shifts? Daniel Tarschys considers and sets out some questions about contemporary statecraft.
The EU is growing, again. In the near future the European Union could have as many as 35 members and will have to adapt to absorb them. SIEPS asked leading experts what the Union can or should do to be ‘Fit for 35’?
There are almost six million refugees from Ukraine living in the EU under a Temporary Protection regime. When this legal protection expires in early 2025, they risk being left in legal limbo. Expert in migration law Meltem Ineli Ciğer considers what can be done to avoid this.
The EU is investing up to €723 billion on top of its ordinary budget to support economic recovery and the ‘twin’ transitions. But is there sufficient accountability regarding how the money is to be spent? At present, says Maria-Luisa Sánchez-Barrueco, not really.
War in Europe, a revamped enlargement process, and the EU’s centre of gravity (perhaps) shifting to the east. Katarina Engberg examines German official and unofficial thinking on the country’s role in this new geopolitical landscape.
The EU Treaties proclaim the rule of law to be one of the Union’s founding values. Ongoing violations of it are therefore a major concern. In this SIEPS anthology, prominent legal scholars, political scientists and practitioners consider the scale of problem and examine attempted and potential solutions.
The global economy and international trade have changed significantly since the fall of the Berlin wall. In this analysis, Christoph Herrmann (University of Passau) outlines how the EU has responded to the new geo-economic situation. He argues that while pursuing strategic autonomy is reasonable, in doing so the EU risks overstepping the bounds of legality.
For the EU, climate policy is a source of economic growth and modernisation, but also an integral part of its common foreign and security policy; its geopolitics. In this European Policy Analysis, Richard Youngs (University of Warwick) takes stock of the EU’s thinking and action on climate geopolitics, noting the impacts – positive and negative – of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The European party federations – Europarties – have built alliances with many Ukrainian political parties. Dr Mats Öhlén assesses the role of this cooperation in supporting Ukraine’s democratic development and its EU-membership aspirations, against the background of previous enlargements.
The role of national parliaments in the work of the EU has increased over time. Through the ‘Political dialogue’ they have the opportunity to interact directly with the European Commission. In this European Policy Analysis, SIEPS Senior Researcher Valentin Kreilinger examines how national parliaments use the dialogue and proposes some ways in which it could be enhanced.