When Ursula von der Leyen ascended to the Presidency of the European Commission in December 2019, one policy dominated above all others, the European Green Deal. This ambitious plan aims to bring the EU to net-zero emissions by 2050, in line with the bloc’s commitments under the Paris Agreement, whilst also generating a sustainable economic growth model where ‘no…
The European Solidarity Corps project helps young Europeans to find temporary work placements. Critics warn of replacing quality jobs with unpaid volunteering.
The European Commission issued a “White Paper on the Future of Europe” as its contribution to the soul-searching in Brussels.
On Sunday, October 4th, Portugal had national elections. Seventeen parties entered the fight. Following the social crisis outcry, expectations and predictions reflected the general sentiment that the Socialists would be the next winners. How can we explain, then, that the voters rewarded the parties (PSD and CDS) that had made their lives so miserable with austerity measures?
The last in a long row of illegal-migrant-related incidents plaguing Europe for the better part of this year, the Calais crisis set out to dominate not only this week’s headlines but also the debate about the UK’s relationship with the European Union.
The Juncker investment plan was backed by the European Parliament in a vote on Wednesday, 24 June. The plan, aimed at creating jobs, fostering economic growth and tackling record high unemployment…
By Panagiota Manoli and Georgios Maris
Until recently, especially in financial governance issues, studies had paid little attention to the role of the European Parliament (EP), rather focusing on other institutions such as the European Council, the Commission and the European Central Bank. In a chapter that we contributed to a recently published book,* we discuss the role of the EP in the management of the global financial crisis that erupted in 2008 and soon spread into the Eurozone economies.
On Wednesday, 13 May, the European Commission unveiled its highly anticipated plan to deal with the increasing number of migrants trying to reach the European shores. The long-awaited European Agenda on Migration made waves in the media with its system of immigration quotas and proposal for military action in the Mediterranean. The “immediate action” called for by the Commission establishes a set of measures to deter and dismantle traffickers’ networks, while also distributing the burden of resettling asylum seekers amongst EU member states. More details will continue to be presented on the various proposals, while the package will be discussed by the EU leaders at the upcoming European Council meeting in June
The European Commission has upped its growth forecasts for the Eurozone and the entire EU after noting the positive effects of the European Central Bank (ECB) debt purchase programme; cheaper oil prices, and the depreciation of the euro. However, this economic improvement will not be uniform across all the member states. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 19 euro members will be up this year by 1.5%, two tenths higher than estimated in February by the EU executive. For the 28 countries in the European Union, the Commission also revised forecasts upwards by one decimal point to 1.8%
