EU institutions & treaties
A 'smart growth' strategy for sustainable development
01 November 2005
Amid the insults and recriminations which followed the collapse of the EU budget negotiations last June, few people noticed that EU leaders succeeded in reaching agreement on a new sustainable development strategy.
CAP reform can reshape the EU budget
03 October 2005
France and Britain appear irreconcilably divided over the future of the EU budget. But the arguments posed by both countries in support of their contrasting positions are flawed.
Issue 44 - 2005
30 September 2005
- Can variable geometry save EU enlargement?, Charles Grant
- CAP reform can reshape the EU budget, Lord Haskins
- An avant-garde for internal security, Hugo Brady
The EU budget: A way forward
01 September 2005
Many of the bitterest arguments in the European Union have been about money. That is partly because the budget is inherently a zero-sum game: more for one country means less for others.
Liberal versus social Europe
01 August 2005
Europe is in the grip of a fundamental debate about its economic future, or at least that is what some politicians and many journalists would have us believe.
Europe’s social dilemma
01 August 2005
Of all the items on the agenda of the British EU presidency, perhaps the least expected is a debate on ‘social Europe’. Tired of being crudely caricatured as ‘neoliberal’, Tony Blair has invited EU leaders to an informal summit in October to discuss the future of Europe’s social model.
A bad European dream
01 August 2005
On a grey Thursday morning in June 2006, Lee Barker, a 29-year-old Midlands businessman, was packing his bags to go to Germany.
Issue 43 - 2005
29 July 2005
- Liberal versus social Europe, Katinka Barysch
- A bad European dream, Daniel Keohane
- Europe’s social dilemma, Alasdair Murray
When the dust settles
03 June 2005
The French and Dutch rejections of the constitutional treaty throw into stark relief the divisions between two groups of EU countries. On one side are countries - including Britain, Ireland, the Nordic three plus the majority of the new member-states - who (crudely put) favour a more economically liberal and diverse European Union.
Europe beyond the referendums
01 June 2005
The French and Dutch have not only stopped the passage of the constitutional treaty, but also, quite probably, the wave of European integration that began 20 years ago with Jacques Delors, the single market and the Single European Act.
The June European Council: Fear and loathing in Brussels?
01 June 2005
The French and Dutch No votes on the EU constitutional treaty have rocked Europe's political establishment. The EU's heads of government will debate the future of the document at their summit – and the equally fractious issue of the EU's budget – in Brussels on 16 June 2005.
Issue 42 - 2005
27 May 2005
- Europe beyond the referendums, Charles Grant
- Unshackling services is the key to Europe's economic future, Digby Jones
- When the dust settles, Alasdair Murray
Don't forget the Dutch referendum
02 May 2005
Three days after the French vote on the EU constitutional treaty on 29 May 2005 the Netherlands will hold its referendum. Current opinion polls predict that the Dutch will reject the treaty.
What happens if France votes No?
02 May 2005
In just over two weeks France will hold a referendum on the EU constitutional treaty. The outcome of the 29 May 2005 referendum remains on a knife-edge with the latest polls suggesting the country is split down the middle.
A French lesson for Europe? A guide to the referenda on the EU constitutional treaty
01 April 2005
On 29 May 2005 France will hold the second of ten national referenda on the EU constitutional treaty. The 25 EU governments have until November 2006 to ratify the treaty.
The EU's common fisheries policy: The case for reform, not abolition
01 April 2005
During the British general election campaign, political parties have found the EU's common fisheries policy (CFP) a temptingly soft target.
Making multilateralism work
01 February 2005
At their December 2003 summit, EU leaders nailed the concept of 'effective multilateralism' to their foreign policy mast. The governments said they were committed to upholding and improving international law; and to strengthening the United Nations (UN), by giving it the tools to do its work more effectively.
Will the French vote 'Non'
01 February 2005
President Jacques Chirac recently declared that the French referendum on the EU's constitutional treaty would take place "before the summer", and not in the second half of 2005 as previously planned.
What happens if Britain votes No?: Ten ways out of a constitutional crisis
01 February 2005
If the rest of the EU adopts the constitutional treaty but the British vote against it, the Union faces crisis and instability. Charles Grant looks at what may happen next. Would there be a second referendum, or an attempt to renegotiate the treaties?
Referendum season in Europe: A guide to the referenda on the EU constitutional treaty
01 February 2005
Europe's referendum season is about to kick off. On 20 February 2005 Spain will hold the first of ten national referenda on the new EU constitutional treaty.