The European Parliament elections in May 2014 will be the most important to date. With the new powers of the European Parliament under the Lisbon Treaty, a new majority will shape EU policies in many important areas, from regulation of the single market to the free movement of persons, international trade agreements, reform of the common agricultural policy, carbon taxes, and so on.

During the first six months of this year Ireland holds the EU Presidency for the seventh time. With the motto "For Stability, Jobs and Growth" the Irish government has expressed its intention to focus on economic growth and implementation of existing decisions, rather than presenting new initiatives.

Where is Europe heading and what is left of the integration though law project? At the time of the greatest crisis facing the EU since its inception, it is important to see things in its context and think about the developments at hand in the light of the grander transformations that constituted the Union.  In this EPA, Christian Joerges offers his view of the “bigger picture” and reconstructs the trajectories of European integration in the conflicts law perspective.

Several EU Member States have developed measures to postpone retirement and prolong working life. In this analysis, the authors highlight the main evolutions in the area, and the current situation of the 50-74 year olds on the labour market in eight European countries.

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.

On 28 January 2013, the EFTA Court passed a judgment in the so called Icesave case, regarding Iceland’s rules on the protection of savers’ deposits following the collapse of all its major banks in the autumn of 2008. In the opinion of the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA), this constituted a breach of the EU Directive on deposit-guarantee schemes.

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.

With the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Union has been formally instructed to “develop a special relationship with neighbouring countries” (Article 8 TEU). This new European Policy Analysis examines the nature and object of this broad EU ‘neighbourhood competence’.

The present financial and sovereign debt crisis has underlined the important role of housing finance in the economy. This analysis summarizes previous and current attempts of the European Union to create a common legal framework for mortgage credit contracts.