Future EU Archives

The EU must swiftly propose and adopt sanctions against the latest 'democratic backsliding' by the Hungarian government, say leading European politicians, media and civil society leaders in an open letter whose signatories include former Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy, and EURACTIV founder Christophe Leclercq.

From financial problems to migration and Brexit, the European Union has faced multiple challenges so far. Nowadays, Europe is being hard-hit by another “black swan” – the COVID-19 pandemic. How can the EU learn from its mistakes in order to better face future unpredictable crises, asks Nicolae Stefanuta.

South Korea is an inspiration for fighting the coronavirus and the UN chief is exemplary for global leadership, at a time when the US is incapacitated, and the EU -- still in need of unity, writes Stavros Papagianneas.

Playtime is over, so Ursula von der Leyen and her Commissioners better take out the big guns and follow in the footsteps of the Delors Commission, writes Guy Verhofstadt.

In the face of the ongoing crisis, European Parliament lawmakers must make it clear that negotiations for the EU’s long-term budget are starting at 2% of GDP and will not go below 1.5%, and that the EU budget for 2020 will be at least 2% of the Union's GDP, writes MEP Radan Kanev.

The coronavirus pandemic presents much more than a healthcare crisis: It serves as the latest iteration of the EU’s inability to handle its own systemic weaknesses. Thus, the pandemic must be understood as nothing less than a clarion call for pan-European politics, writes Joel Boehme.

If we do not start creating the conditions for the return to a border free Schengen zone now, the temporary measures introduced to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic risk becoming permanent, writes Alena Kudzko.

The coronavirus has already done more to unravel a borderless Europe than all the far-right politicians combined. The pandemic only reaffirmed Politics 101: only strong and effective states are able to cope with crises, writes Hamza Karčić.

A number of prominent figures are calling for a "European response" to the coronavirus threat, with strict containment measures of the pandemics, and an EU-wide plan to re-start the European economy afterwards.

The EU is at a crucial turning point, it is now vital to give citizens the opportunity to take ownership of its project, Axel Dauchez writes ahead of the launch of the Conference on the future of Europe.

For the moment, no one is talking about the ratification of a possible new treaty following the Conference on European Reform. To avoid failure and to engage citizens, the EU's institutions must be made to work according to the principles of representative democracy, and treaty reform must be the central issue at stake in the European elections of 2024, write Giorgio Clarotti, Oliver Costa and Christophe Leclercq.

To deliver on the flagship European Green Deal, there is a need to introduce a new source of revenues for the EU budget under the form of carbon tax, writes Ivailo Kalfin.

The Von der Leyen Commission begins its mandate at a time when Arctic geopolitics are at their most important since the Cold War. The EU needs to deepen its engagement in its own Arctic backyard, argue André Gattolin and Damien …

There may be more women at the top of EU politics but equality has not been reached, and men have as great a role as women in reaching solutions, write Dagmar Schumacher and Rick Zedník.

Democratic debates require trusted information, less economic pressure on media, and more policy pressure on platforms. Supporting citizens' choices, three concepts will help the von der Leyen Commission: ‘co-regulation’, ‘trust indicators’, ‘systemic publishing platforms’. This open letter to the new Commission …

Christophe Leclercq founded the EURACTIV Media Network and the think-and-do tank Fondation EURACTIV. His fiction piece illustrates media sector consolidation, changing journalist jobs, values, platform regulation, and the fate of the EU itself.

Is the Spitzenkandidat system dead? Reforms can revive it and give the process new legitimacy, argues Cristian Ghinea

As part of EURACTIV's 20 Visions for Europe project, Prof. Luciano Morganti shares a letter addressed to his children about his hopes for their future life as EU citizens.

Two members of  the Eurochild Children’s Council, which includes children aged 11-16 years from 12 European countries, share their visions for Europe.

30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall it is time to bring back the spirit of '89 to forge a new rEUnaissance, argues Luca Jahier.

Together, as Europe, we do have good prospects of shifting gears, of catching up and even prevailing in several areas , writes Mihnea Motoc, Deputy Head of the European Political Strategy Center.

Creating a single space from Lisbon to Vladivostok is 'not an utopia, but a viable initiative', writes Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov.

China will as always firmly support European integration, writes Ambassador Zhang Ming, the head of the Chinese Mission to the EU.