Some are calling it one of the biggest crises the EU has faced in decades. The European Union’s response to its shortage of vaccines has already damaged post-Brexit relations with the UK, and has warranted criticism from leaders around the world. The vaccine rollout amongst EU countries has been surprisingly slow when compared with other […]
For most of the EU, nothing has changed due to Brexit. We go on with our busy lives and the pandemic currently occupies most of our attention. Why bother with Brexit anyway, when the economy suffers either way and in much worse ways than Brexit ever could? In a way, Brexiteers were spared a lot […]
After four long years of Leave-Remain battle – from the referendum campaign, the voting day, and all of the chaos since then – from the resignations of David Cameron and Theresa May, to the re-election of Boris Johnson, and all of the anticipation and #Regrexit in between – is it all finally over? (Spoiler alert: […]
Nowhere is the Union’s neighbourhood policy more mature than in the East, yet expectations are high and successes manageable. Political balancing act The Eastern Partnership was and still is the EU’s attempt to reach a first major milestone in its official neighbourhood policy, which has been in place since 2004. So far, however, this mission […]
‘Together with a nuclear power share of ca. 15%, [renewable energy sources] will be the backbone of a carbon-free European power system.’ This sentence from the European Commission’s strategic vision for climate-neutrality by 2050, A Clean Planet for All (2018), concisely summarises the argument put forward in this article. Nuclear energy has a crucial role […]
The European Union wants to become climate-neutral by 2050. To this end, a vast variety of legislative goals from the European Green Deal to a “comprehensive plan” to cut EU emissions by at least 55% by 2030 have been proposed by the Commission’s President-elect Ursula von der Leyen, while some 25-30% of the EU’s 2021-2027 […]
‘The European Union is too far removed from its citizens,’ is a sentence uttered all too often. Europhiles have passionately defended the democratic nature of the union and its institutions. In 2014 the Spitzenkandidaten-procedure was introduced to increase the influence of the European Parliament and start a European public debate around the elections. The process […]
The article was originally published (in English) on the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies blog: https://www.martenscentre.eu/blog/black-sheep-european-liberals. The European Liberals and particularly the former head of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, have made their reputation on the criticism of nationalist and populist politicians around Europe, including Salvini, Farage, Orbán and many […]
With the prophetic words of “opening a new chapter for Europe”, the EPP builds its manifesto around four catchphrases. Whether political soundness and coherence follow those, is more debatable. Spitzenkandidat for the party Manfred Weber, has little chance of actually following Jean-Claude Juncker next year, as the national heads of government favour Michel Barnier or […]
Another edition for the beady eyed followers of European politics and the current Spitzenkandidaten race for the EU Commission president. This time, we look at the centre–left liberal candidate – Margarethe Vestager – leading the charge for ALDE. A pragmatic and well-respected politician on the European stage: is it just what Europe needs now, or […]