Tag: future eu keyword

Although the imminent completion of the Lisbon Treaty ratification process should allow the EU to emerge from its "period of introspection", "we should be under no illusions" as the "long and painful" ratification experience revealed problems with the legitimacy of EU integration and the direction the Union is taking, write Loukas Tsoukalis, Olaf Cramme and Roger Liddle in an October paper for the Policy Network.

"The vocation of Europe in the course of the 21^st century is to become the lever of step-by-step intercontinental convergence and unification," writes former Belgian Prime Minister Mark Eyskens in an August paper for Europe's World, claiming that one must look to the future "to understand Europe's current choices".

A second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty would "ultimately" be required in Ireland to prevent its isolation now that all other 26 member states appear likely to ratify it, the country's Minister of State for European Affairs Dick Roche said at the weekend.

Demand is growing among Europeans for a "pragmatic" EU which focuses on "concrete" issues, Dominique Reynié, a professor at Paris's prestigious Sciences-Po university, told EurActiv France.

In the aftermath of the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, Dominik Hierlemann considers four options for the future in a June 2008 paper for the Bertelsmannstiftung.

National communication plans on Europe tend to see the EU as a problem, implying that "how to communicate" dominates "what to communicate," write Judith Merkies and Marcel Canoy of the European Commission. Instead, we'd better accept Europe as a fact of life, they argue.

The EU presidency will serve as a powerful instrument for further 'Europeanisation' of Slovenia both in terms of adopting European practices, norms and values and promoting its political interests at EU level, argues Manja Klemenčič in a paper for the think tank Notre Europe.

Tony Blair has set out his vision for the future of European democracy as speculation mounts over the identity of the first president of the EU, set to be inaugurated in 2009.

Government and civil society organisations have both identified energy policy and fighting climate change as priorities of the country's upcoming EU presidency next year. But civil society groups fear that government officials may not share their growth and job creation goals, a conference hosted by EurActiv France heard.

Europe is tired and faces decline unless there is a renaissance that goes further than EU-level regulation, writes Bela Kadar, Hungary’s former minister for international economic relations, for Europe's World. 

An agreement on the new Reform Treaty looks likely at this week's summit, according to Hugo Brady and Katinka Barysch of the Centre for European Reform (CER).

The Parliament's Constitutional Affairs Committee has approved a plan to revise the composition of the European Parliament, agreeing that the largest member states should retain the same number of MEPs after the 2009 legislative elections.

"Sometimes I like to compare the EU as a creation to the organisation of empire," stated President José Manuel Barroso recently. Even though there is no "imperialist temptation" in the EU, this statement reveals a number of tensions that are pressing the EU to rethink its organisation, nature and overall strategy, argues Jean-Thomas Lesueur.

Europe "urgently needs a proper debate as well as choices about its political direction" if it is to "regain the interest of its citizens" and include them in its deliberations, writes Olaf Cramme for Open Democracy.

France is already preparing for its EU Presidency – scheduled for July-December 2008 – and has identified a number of key policy areas on which to focus, EurActiv France reports.

On 23 July, the EU launched an Intergovernmental Conference to provide a legal basis for the June Summit's political agreement, and prepare a text to revise the current treaties. Jean-Dominique Giuliani of the Robert Schuman Foundation outlines the new perspectives that will potentially become European policy following this turning point.

It should be possible to reach an agreement over the stalled Constitutional Treaty at the June Summit if two sets of conditions are satisfied, write Sebastian Kurpas and Stefano Micossi in a May 2007 paper for the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS).

As the German Presidency searches for a way out of the impasse over the Constitutional Treaty ahead of the June summit, European Policy Centre (EPC) analysts Sara Hageman and Antonio Missiroli examine the alternatives that have been suggested for moving forward. 

The 18 EU member states that have ratified the stalled European Constitution meet in Madrid on 26 January 2007 in an attempt to save the substance of the text. But the initiative has already met with widespread criticism. 

The future of Europe after the no votes on the Constitution, the plan D activities of member states and the Commission's communication strategy passed a critical review at a conference organised by ECAS.

Despite reluctance of Polish political elites to discuss the fate of the EU Constitutional Treaty, public opinion in Poland is clearly in favour of a constitutional text, a recent survey shows. 

In the article “Re-Launching Europe”, published by Deutsche-Aussenpolitik.De, Philipp Hessel analyses Germany’s European Policy based on Chancellor Merkels “state of the union” speech held in May 2006.

A "Europe of results" instead of more institutional brainstorming on how to save the Constitution is what the EU needs, according to Commission President Barroso. 

This issue of "EU-25 Watch" addresses key issues and challenges to European integration.  The internet study was published by Barbara Lippert and Timo Goosmann of the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP)  in Berlin within the framework of EU-CONSENT a "Network of Excellence". It  sheds light on key issues like the "Lisbon process" or the "role of the EU in the World".  The analysis is based on reports by institutes from all 25 EU members states as well as from the four acceeding/ candidate countries Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Turkey.