On September 15th, President of the European Union Commission Ursula von der Leyen delivered the annual State of the Union Address. Noteworthy key priorities were the continuation of the fight against COVID-19, climate change, migration, respect for rule of law, and a European defence policy. After the speech, many were left with further questions, be it from a public health policy perspective or from a security standpoint. […]
On 24th December 2020, the EU reached an agreement with the UK on the terms of their future cooperation after four years of intensive negotiation. Building a strong EU-UK partnership in a post-Brexit Europe is indeed in their interest. […]
In 2015, at the UN General Assembly, world leaders signed up to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), representing a roadmap to peace and prosperity for people and planet, now and in the future. […]
The concept of European integration emerged after the Second World War and was designed to promote prosperity and peace among member states. However, considering the series of crises the EU has been facing over the past few years, the European project is in jeopardy. […]
The global spread of Covid-19 not only threatens our health (systems), but it also constitutes a major challenge to the stability of the European Union and reveals unsolved problems. The current crisis demonstrates that national decisions have a global impact. Rapid national lockdowns, a high mortality rate, wildly fluctuating stock markets and constitutional reforms are only some of the negative consequences that have appeared during the recent weeks. […]
The 9th of March marked the first 100 days since the new Commission took office. This is an important mark as it gives an indication of the future direction of political initiatives and their possible success. The 100-day promises made by the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were characterised by a will to become an important global actor that spearheads responsible governance. […]
The new initiative aims at bringing together EU institutions, Member States and civil society. The details are still unknown but a Franco-German “non-paper” sheds some light on how the Conference on the Future of Europe could look like. […]
On 1st December, the members of the new Commission took office with Ursula von der Leyen as Commission President. Before the Parliamentary vote on 27th November, von der Leyen held that “Our Union will embark together on a transformation which will touch every part of our society and of our economy” while pointing to great ambitions for the future, with climate change and digitalisation being top priorities. […]