Elections to the European Parliament famously fail to excite the interest of voters. The result is low turnout at these elections, particularly in some post-communist EU member states.
This European Policy Analysis looks at the balance of powers between the European Parliament and the EU governments in the EU budget negotiations. The next long-term EU budget, covering the years 2014–2020, shows that its content is heavily constrained by how the decision process takes place.
As a consequence of the economic crisis, a series of measures have been undertaken in order to strengthen the economic-political coordination in the EU. This development raises several questions in relation to the Swedish EU membership.
The European economic crisis revived the discussion on future treaty revision. However, stringency of the revision procedure based on unanimity requirement presented an obstacle to fast resolution of complicated problems posed by the crisis.
The global financial crisis has led to a substantial rise in youth unemployment in Europe. Furthermore, young people are today increasingly excluded not only from the labour market, but the education system as well.
National parliaments are often thought of as having lost substantial powers due to European integration. In what way has the rapid decision-making of the EU during the Eurozone crisis affected national parliaments within the Union? In this publication, political scientists Katrin Auel and Oliver Höing present their analysis of activity within the national parliaments of the EU during the Eurozone crisis.
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.
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.
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”.
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.