European Parliamentary Research Service Blog
International Relations
Foreign policy and defence challenges [What Think Tanks are Thinking]
The European Union will face increasingly serious foreign policy and defence challenges in 2019. The current Administration in the United States seems to be abandoning its traditional role of the ‘benign protector’ of the rules-based international order. Continue reading
EU policies – Delivering for citizens: Human Rights [Policy Podcast]
In the 70 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – the first international document to set common standards of achievement for all states – the pivotal role and moral, legal and political significance of human rights in the international arena have become indisputable. Continue reading
Ten issues to watch in 2019
This annual publication offers up-to-date insight from policy analysts in the European Parliamentary Research Service on ten key issues and policy areas that are likely to feature prominently on the political agenda of the European Union (EU) in 2019. Continue reading
The US Congress in 2019: What to expect
Following the mid-term elections of 6 November 2018, the new United States Congress will start work on 3 January 2019 with a Republican majority in the Senate and a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. The shift of power in the House is likely to affect key issues including oversight and immigration. Continue reading
2018: Challenges and choices [What Think Tanks are thinking]
After 2017 brought optimism for the European Union, 2018 has proved a year of tougher challenges and choices. It was a time of slower growth, with the spectre of a global trade war. Continue reading
The EU-Japan Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) – A framework to promote shared values [International Agreements in Progress]
The SPA represents a framework strengthening the overall partnership, by promoting political and sectoral cooperation and joint actions in more than 40 areas of common interest. Continue reading
The 2018 Sakharov Prize
Thirty years since it was first awarded, the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought retains all its symbolic meaning, as human rights continue to be embattled in many parts of the world. Continue reading
International Human Rights Day
The international community observes 10 December annually, since 1948, as Human Rights Day – the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Continue reading
What if we genetically engineered an entire species? [Science and Technology Podcast]
A gene drive is a technique for manipulating ecosystems by introducing self-propagating custom genes among a population of sexually reproducing organisms, using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology. Continue reading
Global and regional trends [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The European Union’s key institutions held a joint conference on November 28-29 entitled ‘Global trends to 2030: Shaping the future in a fast-changing world.’ Continue reading
Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III) [EU Legislation in Progress]
On 14 June 2018, the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation establishing the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) III as part of a set of external action instruments under the new 2021 to 2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF). Continue reading
Religion and human rights
Although on the EU agenda for decades, recent events, such as the migration crisis and the issues with the rule of law in some Member States, have brought the issue of values back into focus. Continue reading
European Defence Fund: Multiannual financial framework 2021-2027 [EU Legislation in Progress]
In June 2018, the European Commission presented a legislative proposal on a European Defence Fund, including a budget allocation of €13 billion in current prices for the 2021 to 2027 period. Continue reading
Modernisation of the trade pillar of the EU-Chile Association Agreement [International Agreements in Progress]
In November 2017, the EU and Chile launched negotiations on a modernised trade pillar of the 2002 EU-Chile Association Agreement, based on a Council negotiating mandate which is the first-ever to have been published prior to the start of negotiations with a view to enhancing transparency and inclusiveness. Continue reading
EU support for human rights defenders around the world
Twenty years after the UN General Assembly adopted its Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) to enhance recognition of their role and encourage states to create a more protective environment, many human rights defenders still face significant threats, and the situation of those working in certain areas has even deteriorated. Continue reading
EU policies – Delivering for citizens: EU support for democracy and peace in the world [Policy Podcast]
Strengthening peace and democracy globally has never been an easy task, however, and today’s geopolitical context poses new challenges. Continue reading
A new association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (including Greenland) with the European Union [EU Legislation in Progress]
On 14 June 2018, in preparation for the new multiannual financial framework (2021 to 2027 MFF), the European Commission published a proposal for a Council decision on the Association of the Overseas Countries and Territories, including Greenland, with the European Union. Continue reading
Cybersecurity [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Cybersecurity was back in the spotlight earlier in October, when several Western countries issued a coordinated denunciation of Russia, accusing it of running a global hacking campaign. Moscow denied the allegations. Continue reading
From post-truth to post-trust?
Is the ‘very concept of objective truth’ fading out of the world, as George Orwell wrote in his Homage to Catalonia in the 1930s? Or is truth even ‘dead’, as Time magazine asked in 2017? Can we draw clear lines between objective facts, spin and lies? What are the consequences of ‘truth decay’ for trust, democracy and multilateralism? Continue reading
The US mid-term elections of November 2018
The forthcoming mid-term elections in the United States, to be held on 6 November 2018, are likely to offer a closely watched political verdict on the first two years of Donald Trump’s presidency. Continue reading
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