According to the Europe 2020 strategy, public authorities in the European Union should make better use of public procurement in support of general societal goals such as good environmental protection and social conditions. This analysis discusses the proposal from the European Commission on new procurement rules that will enhance strategic use of public procurement.
What triggers growth? How can the EU Member States ensure conditions that have a proven positive effect on growth? These questions are relevant, not least considering the recent financial and economic crisis which represents the deepest downturn in world economy since Second World War. How important are institutions – that is to say, formal rules and capacity to enforce those rules – for the economic performance of a country? This SIEPS report discusses the relation between the quality of institutions and economic growth.
Respect for human rights is a value upon which the European Union is founded, and a precondition for an aspirant state to be considered as a candidate for membership. Contrasting the fundamental rights discourse developing in the EU enlargement context and the situation within the EU, this European Policy Analysis shows the recurrent distortion between internal and external EU fundamental rights regimes, and sheds light on the on-going discussion to find ways of addressing it.
On 1 July 2013 Lithuania – for the first time – assumed the rotating presidency of the EU Council. This publication analyses the main aspects of the preparations and challenges ahead of the Lithuanian Presidency.
The fundamental task of the European Council has been to define the EU's general political direction. Its influence and scope of intervention, however, is gradually increasing.
Four years have passed since the adoption of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR). Ahead of the annual forum which is taking place in November 2013 in Vilnius, Kristine Kern and Stefan Gänzle analyse the evolution of the strategy’s governance and activities.
All remaining restrictions to the free movement of Bulgarian and Romanian citizens will have to be removed before the end of 2013. In a number of EU member states this has renewed fears of “benefit tourism”.
The Schengen system is one of the core achievements of the European integration process. This system, which permits those who are present in any of the Schengen States to cross the borders without being checked, assumes a considerable degree of harmonization and mutual trust among those states.
During the last decade, European Union has undertaken a range of measures aiming at prevention and control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Regulation of the so called ‘lifestyle risks’ is, however, not uncontroversial.
Foreign affairs have always involved a degree of secrecy and the EU external action is no exception. Out of security concerns and to protect the confidentiality of international negotiations, EU foreign policy actors such as the Council and the European External Action Service (EEAS) manage access to information by classifying documents as ‘secret’.