Research
Issue 55 - 2007
27 July 2007
- The EU should talk to Hamas, Charles Grant, Clara Marina O'Donnell
- Re-imagining EU development aid, Simon Maxwell
- Reciprocity will not secure Europe’s energy , Katinka Barysch
Where next for Turkey?
24 July 2007
Some of Turkey’s critics say that it has no place in the EU because it is not a European country. Others criticise the quality of its democracy.
Russia, realism and EU unity
20 July 2007
The Litvinenko murder case is only one of a growing number of disputes between the Kremlin and EU countries. But the EU has been slow to reassess its relations with a more autocratic and assertive Russia. Divisions within the EU have not helped.
Of mice, men and the language of EU reform
18 July 2007
Beware the humourless, especially in politics. At a CER/Clifford Chance conference last week, Guiliano Amato, Italy’s interior minister, pronounced that the Reform Treaty was a return to familiar territory for the EU: an unreadable treaty.
The EU should talk to Hamas
11 July 2007
The conspicuous role of Hamas in the recent release of Alan Johnston was not only good news for the BBC correspondent. Hamas showed that it cares about how it is perceived abroad, that it wants to be considered a credible actor, and that it hopes to end its international isolation.
Portugal's presidency
09 July 2007
On 1 July 2007, Portugal took over the EU's rotating presidency from Germany. Angela Merkel's six months at the helm will be a tough act to follow.
Why Europeans don’t have babies
29 June 2007
Europeans live longer, work less and have fewer babies. On current trends, the EU will not have enough workers to pay for its growing number of pensioners.
Hurrah for an end to EU navel gazing
28 June 2007
European leaders will open negotiations on a new EU 'reform treaty' on 23 July 2007. At a cliffhanger summit last weekend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel worked hard to accommodate national concerns that threaten to derail the new treaty.
What the summit says about the EU
26 June 2007
At 4.30am on Saturday 23rd June, after 36 hours of wrangling, EU leaders agreed on a deal to revive parts of the failed EU constitutional treaty.
EU business and Turkish accession
22 June 2007
Many EU politicians and their voters are unsure about the merits of Turkish accession. Europe’s entrepreneurs are not. They are showing confidence by investing billions into the fast-growing Turkish economy, partly because they expect that EU accession will continue to change the country for the better.
What do you do with a problem like Poland?
21 June 2007
Behind the scenes, Angela Merkel has striven to get agreement on a mandate for treaty change ahead of this week’s EU summit. She has by now dealt with concerns of most of the key players in the debate – France, the Netherlands and the UK.
Serbia's European choice
19 June 2007
Serbia's accession prospects are looking up, following the formation of a new government in Belgrade and the resumption of SAA talks with the EU. However, disagreements over Kosovo could quickly derail the process again.
Turkey before the election
15 June 2007
I have recently come back from Turkey, where the mood is a mixture of relief, hope and anxiety: relief that the army has remained in the barracks; hope that the early election in July will result in a workable compromise between the AKP and the secularists; and anxiety that the crisis that started in April has done lasting damage to Turkish society and its political system.
G8 and world politics
11 June 2007
Angela Merkel can be content with the outcome of the G8 summit in Heiligendamm which she chaired with her by now characteristic mix of modesty, determination and pragmatism.
European choices for Gordon Brown
01 June 2007
Gordon Brown becomes prime minister at a pivotal moment for the European Union. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have emerged as powerful European leaders.
Sarkozy, secularism and Turkey’s European future
01 June 2007
Can things get worse for Turkey? The presidential election is stalled; the army threatens to intervene; millions are protesting in the streets; EU negotiations remain partly suspended; terrorism in the South-East could prompt military forays into northern Iraq; and the new French president wants to see Turkey in a Mediterranean...
Europe and America’s debate about foreign policy
01 June 2007
Washington’s holiday from strategic debates is over. In the years immediately after September 11th, feelings of solidarity with a president at war prevented serious discussions on the merits of US foreign policy.
Industrial policy – back to the future?
01 June 2007
In his book ‘Testimony’, Nicolas Sarkozy, the newly elected French president, wrote that his finest hour as finance minister of France was the government’s rescue of Alstom, a French maker of high-speed trains and telecoms equipment. The company’s banks had refused to extend further credit, and with Siemens – a...
On oligodemocracy and people power in Ukraine
31 May 2007
There shall be no war, at least not now. On Sunday, President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich agreed to hold early elections in September. In doing so, they halted the country’s slide toward violence, which began with Yushchenko’s dissolution of the Ukrainian parliament in April and culminated this weekend with a standoff between Interior Ministry troops (loyal to Yushchenko) and traffic police (controlled by Yanukovich). But even if the Sunday agreement holds – and law-makers from the prime minister’s side already dispute it – Ukraine has become an uglier place for it. In the end, it was political and military muscle that settled the differences. A conflict may have been averted but Ukraine’s tentative steps to build democracy based on rules and institutions were dealt a severe blow.
Issue 54 - 2007
25 May 2007
- Sarkozy, secularism and Turkey’s European future, Katinka Barysch
- Europe and America’s debate about foreign policy , Tomas Valasek
- Industrial policy – back to the future?, Simon Tilford