European Parliamentary Research Service Blog
events
EU Budget 2021-2027: Challenges and opportunities
The European Council of 20-21 February 2020 failed to reach agreement on the EU’s next multiannual financial framework (MFF) at the level of EU Heads of State or Government. Although the date of the next European Council meeting devoted to the topic has not yet been decided, with the ongoing coronavirus crisis occupying leaders’ attention, the shape and function of the post-2020 MFF is still an urgent issue, since the current framework comes to an end in December. Continue reading
How should democracies respond to the disinformation dilemma?
Often sponsored by authoritarian state actors, disinformation undermines our democracies by eroding trust in institutions and media, increasing rifts and tensions in society and weakening our ability to take informed decisions. Continue reading
Cultural mores, wealth impact education process: OECD-EPRS conference
The event on PISA, which measures students’ ability to read, do maths and master science subjects, took place in the European Parliamentary Research Service’s (EPRS) Library Reading Room on 29 January 2020. Continue reading
The Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA): What future for stabilisation and reconstruction
Nearly a decade after the Arab Spring, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remains ravaged by war and social conflict and mass migration of refugees, as well as suffering economic impoverishment. Continue reading
Artificial intelligence made in Europe
Positive, reliable and human-centric artificial intelligence (AI) relies on the willingness of Europe as a whole to design a balanced and inclusive governance framework that would allow it to become a leader in the development of trustworthy AI technologies worldwide. Continue reading
Western Balkans: the rocky road to enlargement
How can enlargement of the European Union remain a realistic, merit-based and politically credible exercise, when some Member States are unwilling to move forward with concrete steps, such as opening negotiation talks? This was the key question at the heart of the European Parliamentary Research Service policy roundtable held on Tuesday, 28 January 2020, which gathered over 120 participants, including Members of the European Parliament, experts and think-tankers. Continue reading
Adventures in the war against reality: a veteran expert reports from the frontline
How should democracies respond to disinformation, without compromising freedom of expression? This question preoccupied policy-makers in and beyond Europe in the previous policy cycle and will continue to dominate the debate in Brussels in the new legislature. Continue reading
‘EU institutional dynamics: Ten years after the Lisbon Treaty’
A team from the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) recently organised an event on ‘EU institutional dynamics: Ten years after the Lisbon Treaty’ in the House of European history, in cooperation with the association of former members of the European Parliament (FMA) and Parliament’s Communications Directorate-General. Continue reading
ESPAS Conference 2019: Challenges and choices for Europe
The European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) held its latest annual conference On Monday, 14 and Tuesday, 15 October 2019 Continue reading
EPRS book talk: ‘The art and craft of political speechwriting’
The recent EPRS book talk centred on the art and craft of political speechwriting, a subject that aroused a good deal of interest. More than 200 people – MEPs, assistants, and staff of the European Parliament and other institutions – came to listen to one of the authors of ‘The Political Speechwriter’s Companion’. Continue reading
IMF launches latest European Regional Economic Outlook, at the EPRS
Taking the already excellent relations between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) to an even higher level, the IMF chose to launch its ‘European Regional Economic Outlook’ during an EPRS event on the direction of Europe’s economy in a global context on 6 November 2019. Continue reading
Understanding EU Security and Defence Policy
Maximilian Schroeder, Head of Unit of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence Secretariat, and Anthony Teasdale, Director General of EPRS, welcomed a panel of six experts to a briefing seminar on ‘Understanding CSDP: EU Common Security and Defence Policy’ on 2 October 2019. Continue reading
State of the Union: The view from regions and cities
o provide an opportunity for deeper reflection on the role of regions and cities in the EU in the years to come, the Committee of the Regions and the European Parliamentary Research Service organised a joint discussion on 16 October 2019, moderated by Etienne Bassot, Director of the Members’ Research Service, EPRS. Continue reading
A globalisation that works for everyone? Penny Goldberg discusses the 2020 World Development Report
On 1st October 2019, the chief economist of the World Bank (WB), Penny Goldberg, presented an exclusive snapshot of the 2020 World Development Report in the Library Reading Room at the European Parliament, discussing the economic challenges and perspectives of global value chains (GVCs) for economic development: what can policy makers do to facilitate sustainable growth through GVCs? Continue reading
Health threats from climate change: The time to act is now
On 1 October, the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) hosted the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC) for a policy roundtable on climate change and human health. Continue reading
Understanding the European Parliament’s History: How the Parliament of the 1950s and 1960s shaped our institution today
On 8 May, the eve of the anniversary of the Schumann Declaration, the European Parliamentary Research Service animated the Library reading room with a fascinating conversation between Koen van Zon, presenting his doctoral research findings on the Parliament of the 1950s and 1960s for Radboud University Nijmegen, and Martin Westlake, currently Visiting Professor at the College of Europe and the London School of Economics. Continue reading
Journal of Common Market Studies Annual Review– 2019 Lecture: ‘How the EU 27 came to be’
On 4 April, EPRS hosted, in Parliament’s Library Reading Room, the Journal of Common Market Studies Annual Review 2019 Lecture – ‘How the EU27 came to be’, this year delivered by Professor Dr Brigid Laffan, Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence. Continue reading
Does artificial intelligence threaten human rights?
Asking ‘Is artificial intelligence a human rights issue?’, the workshop co-organised by STOA with the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on 20 March 2019, gathered academic experts, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), practitioners and representatives of international organisations to share their perspectives on exactly how artificial intelligence (AI) affects the protection and enjoyment of human rights. Continue reading
Forty years of direct elections to the European Parliament
Between 23 and 26 May 2019, 350 million European Union (EU) citizens have the opportunity to vote for Members of the European Parliament. It will be the ninth time that EU citizens can vote directly for the policy- and decision-makers who will represent them in EU politics. Direct elections to the European Parliament are consequently one of the most important events in the EU political cycle. Continue reading
Defence anniversaries: NATO turns 70 and CSDP turns 20
Against a backdrop of evolving geopolitical configurations and security threats, anniversaries serve as a useful occasion for reflection, allowing us to draw lessons from the past and informing strategies for the future. In this context, the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), in collaboration with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, hosted a panel discussion on ‘NATO at 70 and CSDP at 20: The future of European security and defence’ on 1 April 2019. Continue reading
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