Press

Attitudes on migration are hardening in the bloc, said Camino Mortera-Martinez, head of the Brussels office of the Centre for European Reform.“The political consensus has been for a long time on the issues of increasing returns [of failed asylum-seekers] — which is one of the most tricky parts of any migration policy, and also border controls and the fight against irregular migration — ironically enough, the kinds of things that the U.K. government had been asking for for a long time when it was inside of the European Union,” she told VOA.

Borrell going beyond what EU countries agreed contributed to the perception that the EU is divided on the conflict, said Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform. At the same time, Borrell’s remarks have also helped signal to the Middle East that some Europeans are willing to be more robust in holding Israel accountable, said Scazzieri of the CER.

Camino Mortera-Martinez, head of the Brussels office at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said Lord Cameron’s appointment was a surprise, but given what followed, he still compares well. “He started everything off, but his successors were so bad that he is probably perceived as something like one of the few adults in the room,” she said. “And he campaigned for staying in the EU, so I guess that counts for something.”

“The stunning surge in Chinese imports from the Netherlands over the past few months is a result of Beijing’s buying spree of Dutch chip machinery company ASML before the drawbridge gets pulled up,” said Sander Tordoir, a senior economist at the Centre for European Reform.

Chancellor Scholz has an eye on upcoming European elections, scheduled for June next year, says analyst Camino Mortera-Martinez of the Centre for European Reform in Brussels.

“We’ve got some sort of agreement. It does paper over the cracks,” said Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform.
“It took them some time to agree on the eventual formula. They seem to have spent a long time arguing about whether there should be a ‘pause’ for humanitarian purposes, or ‘pauses.’ A lot of people apparently thought that the former sounded a bit too close to a ceasefire, which they didn't want to call for,” Bond said.

Managing both conflicts will be a struggle, said Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank. “The EU will have to divide its attention and financial resources between Ukraine and Gaza. Ukraine will be overshadowed, and it will be harder for the EU to agree to providing large amounts of macroeconomic and military assistance to Kyiv.”