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.
The path to a ‘circular economy’ is not smooth, but progress towards the goal will have positive climate impacts. SIEPS Senior Advisor Mats Engström describes the challenges the EU faces in achieving this and gives reasons to press on with this work. (April 2023)
The rule of law has been badly damaged in some EU Member States, and a central feature of this has been the weakening of the independence of the judiciary. In this European Policy Analysis, Iain Cameron, Professor of Public International Law at Uppsala University, examines the case law of the European Court of Human Rights on judicial independence and describes how it can interact with the EU’s work to defend the rule of law. (2023:4epa)
Western Europe’s energy efficiency is nothing to write home about, but the situation in Central and Eastern Europe is even worse. This has negative consequences for the region’s health, wealth and security. In this European Policy Analysis, the former Bulgarian Minister for the Environment Julian Popov describes the problem and suggests some national and EU-level solutions.
Under the pressure of an increased number of irregular arrivals and asylum applications in 2022, and while negotiations on the reform of the Common European Asylum System are ongoing, the EU is – again – searching for solutions outside EU territory. SIEPS senior researcher Bernd Parusel recapitulates the ‘external dimension’ of EU migration policy and discusses some of the ideas currently on the table.
The Eastern and Central European countries that joined the EU in the 2000s have experienced economic growth thanks to their membership. In this European policy analysis, Mariusz Próchniak and Ryszard Rapacki, professors of Economics, examine what is required of the current candidate countries to benefit from EU membership in a similar way.
For a long time, the EU has addressed but so far not prevented systematic violations of the rule of law in the member states. In this analysis, Katalin Cseres argues that EU competition law should be used more actively as part of the rule of law toolbox.