European Parliamentary Research Service Blog
what think tanks are thinking
State of the Union: Spring 2019 [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The run-up to the European Parliament elections on 23-26 May has intensified debate about the state of the European Union, the challenges it faces and the reforms needed, both to strengthen its resilience and to enhance its international role. Continue reading
Presidential elections in Ukraine [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Ukraine will hold presidential elections on 31 March, five years after the Maidan protests resulted in the impeachment of pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovich, setting the country on a course to depeen ties with the West. Continue reading
The EU and Middle East and North Africa [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The European Union held its first ever summit with the Arab League in February, highlighting the growing importance of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in tackling problems such as security, terrorism, migration and energy supply. Continue reading
Venezuela [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The situation in Venezuela appears to be approaching a tipping-point, as President Nicolas Maduro faces growing international and domestic pressure to relinquish power to National Assembly leader and self-proclaimed acting President Juan Guaidó. The latter is recognised by many Western countries as the legitimate interim leader of the oil-rich Latin American country, which has seen its economy undermined by mismanagement and corruption. Continue reading
The INF Treaty and European defence [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The United States has announced its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, sparking fears of a fresh nuclear arms race between Russia, the United States and China. Continue reading
The euro at 20 [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The euro marked its 20th anniversary in January 2019, as debates continued about the single currency’s track-record and the shape of future reform. Continue reading
China [What Think Tanks are thinking]
China’s increasingly autocratic domestic stance and its assertive foreign policy pose a dilemma for European Union policy-makers as to whether to treat the Asian powerhouse as a partner or a rival, or to take a position somewhere in between. Continue reading
The EU’s long-term budget framework [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Since May 2018, European Union governments and the European Parliament are negotiating the next long-term budget for the bloc, the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027, in a bid to secure sufficient resourses for new priorities such as security, defence and migrationm and to respond in a realistic way to the financial consequences of the the UK withdrwal from the EU. Continue reading
Brexit: The latest impasse [What Think Tanks are thinking]
On 15 January, the House of Commons overwhelmingly rejected the Withdrawal Agreement which the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, had negotiated with the rest of the European Union, throwing into disarray efforts to ensure the country’s orderly exit from the bloc. Continue reading
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
European elections [What Think Tanks are Thinking]
Citizens of the European Union go the polls in May 2019 in elections to the European Parliament which many analysts say may be the most important ever. Commentators are currently focused on the prospective performance of anti-establishment parties and movements, many of which run on Eurosceptic platforms. Continue reading
What think tanks are thinking conference: another tough year for the EU
2018, the last full year of the current European Parliament’s current term brought tougher challenges and choices for the European Union than the previous year, when, in the words of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the ‘wind was back in European sails’, along with the economic recovery. 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
Migration [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Written by Marcin Grajewski, On 10 December 2018, at a conference in the Moroccan city of Marrakech, more than 160 United Nations members adopted the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. This is the first multilateral framework providing a global response to migration, and comes at a time of mounting public concern about … Continue reading
Brexit: The endgame? [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Prime Minister Teresa May faces an uphill struggle to convince the British House of Commons to back the agreement she has reached with the EU27 on withdrawal from the European Union, in a crucial vote set for 11 December. 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
Inequality [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Inequality has diminished on a global scale in the last 30 years, as more than two billion people have been lifted out of poverty in countries such as China or India. Continue reading
Climate change [What Think Tanks are thinking]
World leaders are preparing for the ‘COP 24’ summit on tackling climate change in Katowice, Poland, in December, which is meant to debate how to implement the 2015 Paris Agreement. Continue reading
Challenges for the euro area [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The discussion on how to deepen and improve the functioning of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) continues on several fronts. Issues under discussion include euro-area governance, the role of the European Central Bank (ECB), the fiscal rules, debt-mutualisation, risk-sharing, and the nature of, and political compromises between, French and German perspectives within the system. 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
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