With 1700 dead in only four months, the toll of the Mediterranean tragedy tops the same figure of a modern war. Last year, the sub-region was the deadliest migratory route in the world, according to the IOM, while the trend is sadly strengthening. Much have been said on those recurring fatal journeys, and the EU […]
The International Monetary Fund dropped an intellectual bomb on the 14th of April as it published its annual World Economic Outlook report. In a dedicated box the IMF analyses the impacts of “structural reforms” on productivity. The results challenge most of the conventional wisdom about these reforms. Die-hard Conventional Wisdom “It will be convenient to […]
A new tragedy in the Mediterranean was again necessary to create some political pressure on the Council and the Commission to rethink on how to address the problem of the growing flux of migrants using the Mediterranean route to reach Europe. Memory of the shipwreck in Lampedusa in October 2013 was fading away, together with […]
A Statement of Objections has been sent to Gazprom accusing the gas supplier alleging an abuse of its dominant market position in breach of EU antitrust rules. The European Union has accused the Russian firm of causing some market distortions at damage of Central-Eastern Member States (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and […]
Crucial weeks ahead – and backward – for the European Union. After another carnage in the Mediterranean Sea, European countries and leaders were forced to consult each other about the never-ending exodus from the Libyan coasts. Since 2015 started, almost two thousands immigrants lost their lives trying to reach Italian most southern islands, especially Lampedusa, […]
The Latvian Presidency organized on the 21-22 April in Riga an informal Council meeting on Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) to discuss topical issues and new initiatives regarding employment, social affairs and health. The meeting of the Ministers for Labour and Social Policy was focused on issues related to the strengthening of […]
A recent report from the “4 Presidents” (Juncker, Draghi, Dijsselbloem and Tusk) calls for renewed efforts to reform the Economic and Monetary Union. Too little attention has been paid by the media to this endeavour. In part, because events in Greece have taken the central stage. And in part because of its apparent lack of […]
The European Parliament has the poor reputation of being the least influential player in foreign and security policy. Being the last pretty-much-intergovernmental group of policies in the EU, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) – as well as its defence offspring (CSDP) – largely is a domain of the Council. Exceptions remain the humanitarian […]
On April 8th, Prime Minister Tsipras goes to Moscow and makes his move on the Greek energy chessboard. The day before, Foreign Affairs Minister Kotzias, together with his counterparts from Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia and Turkey, signs a declaration on the Turkish Stream project in Budapest, expressing his “support to create a commercially viable option of […]
According to BusinessEurope’s “Reform barometer”, most European countries are still lacking consistent reform implementation. The “Reform barometer” is a yearly survey, conducted among the 33 BusinessEurope’s member federations, that evaluates the recommendations for structural reforms made under the European Semester, assesses progress in implementing them and identifies priorities for future reforms. The 2015 report shows […]
