In recent years, the European Court of Justice has strengthened the rule of law as a binding value within the EU. This change is the result of several landmark rulings in the period 2018 to 2021, which should be seen in the context of the decline of the rule of law in some Member States. Professors Laurent Pech and Dimitry Kochenov unveil a profound change of the EU as a constitutional system.
On September 26th 2021 Germany goes to the polls. Who will govern after the election, and how will they deal with upcoming EU policy questions? SIEPS Senior Researcher Valentin Kreilinger sets the election in its European context, by examining the parties’ manifestos and outlining possible coalition governments.
In July 2020, the European Council agreed on a plan to help Member States’ recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The agreement has important implications, writes Professor Erik Jones, but challenges remain. One crucial factor is whether the Member States succeed in managing their recovery and resilience plans.
The pandemic has led to alternative means of reaching decisions in the EU. How this has affected EU legislation and democracy is examined by Valentin Kreilinger at SIEPS and Selma Bendjaballah at Sciences Po Paris. The effects are analysed against the long-term trends in EU legislative affairs.
The EU is committed to gender mainstreaming across all its policies and activities. When it comes to the European Commission, researchers Lut Mergaert and Rachel Minto argue that there are examples of good practice, but also weaknesses. An important task for the Commission, they write, will be to target the transformation of its own organisation.
The European Commission is a key institution for EU policy but is only recently approaching gender equality. In this analysis, professors Miriam Hartlapp and Agnes Blome provide an overview of women’s representation at the top positions in the Commission and suggest actions for a better gender balance in the future.
The Lisbon Treaty aimed at a deeper integration of member states’ foreign policies at the EU level. Yet, EU external action is often steered by informal groupings of member states. Maria Giulia Amadio Viceré (EUI) describes these practices and assesses the implications through two criteria: effectiveness and accountability.
The rivalry of today’s world should induce the EU to act as a cohesive force. Yet, EU countries are still struggling to focus on the common interest. The 10th anniversary of the European External Action Service thus constitutes an opportune moment to reconsider its contribution to EU foreign policy. This report on the EEAS is the fruit of a research cooperation to which SIEPS has contributed.
In this policy overview Katarina Engberg, senior advisor at SIEPS, investigates the likelihood that a European Defence Union will be created by 2025, the proclaimed goal of the European Commission. The overview combines an inventory of current and evolving elements of the EU’s defence policy with a framework for understanding the drivers behind a potential European Defence Union.
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.