European Parliamentary Research Service Blog

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s State of the Union address to the European Parliament, and the subsequent debate, on 13 September come in the context of the ongoing broader reflection on the future path of the European Union. Continue reading →

A clearer view of the European Commission’s vision of the future of Europe should be one outcome of the 2017 State of the Union speech by President Jean-Claude Juncker. Continue reading →

Written by Clare Ferguson, This month’s European Parliament plenary agenda sees MEPs back in Strasbourg, with the major focus of this month’s session on Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s address on the State of the Union, to be held at 09:00 on Wednesday morning. The speech is likely to look back at the reflections and scenarios … Continue reading →

Written by Beatrix Immenkamp, The EU’s Common Position on arms exports is the only legally binding region-wide arrangement on conventional arms exports. While the Common Position has increased information-sharing and transparency of Member States’ arms exports, there is still scope for enhancing the convergence of national arms-exports policies and for stricter implementation of the criteria … Continue reading →

Written by Christian Scheinert, The Commission’s initiative aims at providing free access to fast internet in local communities. The European Parliament will discuss and vote on WIFI4EU in its September plenary. Background The Commission is of the opinion that the EU lags behind other industrialised nations, such as South Korea and Japan, when it comes … Continue reading →

Written by Etienne Bassot and Wolfgang Hiller, At a time when, more than ever, citizens expect the European Union institutions to address their concerns and deliver on promises and commitments made, this analysis provides an overview of the work carried out by the European Commission at the mid-term of its current mandate, notably in the … Continue reading →

Written by Krisztina Binder, Laura Puccio, Giulio Sabbati. ‘Every man lives by exchanging’, said philosopher and economist Adam Smith in the late 18th century. Indeed, trade has historically played a significant role in a country’s economy. In today’s globalised world, trade is a major tool in state policies to ensure economic growth and more jobs. A country’s success … Continue reading →

Written by Naja Bentzen, Graphics by Christian Dietrich. Fake news – deliberately fabricated stories posing as journalism with the aim of manipulating readers – became an increasingly visible global phenomenon during last year’s presidential election campaign in the United States, not least due to the growing use of social media as a source for news. … Continue reading →

Written by Didier Bourguignon, Jana Valant, Christian Dietrich and Mitja Brus. In a circular economy, products and the materials they contain are highly valued. This contrasts with the traditional, linear economic model, which is based on a ‘take-make-consume-throw away’ pattern. In practice, a circular economy minimises waste through reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials … Continue reading →

Written by Vasilis Margaras, Finding the appropriate funding sources for a local authority, a public entity, a company or a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) can be a major problem. Information is scattered across many different sources and is often confusing and outdated. The EPRS ‘Guide to EU Funding 2014-2020’ is a basic introduction to EU funding … Continue reading →

Written by Lieve Van Woensel with James Tarlton, What are cyber-physical systems? The integration of Cyber-physical systems (CPS) into society promises many benefits, including increasing the efficiency and sustainability of many of our current practices, and creating new markets and growth. These promises include automated cars, mass-customisation of products, and smart technological aids for disabled … Continue reading →

Although Brussels is often referred to as the de facto ‘capital of Europe’, the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas has argued that the city suffers from an ‘iconographic deficit’, because the way the space is organised, together with the architecture of EU buildings is insufficiently distinctive to be particularly memorable. Continue reading →