Many businesses operate across a number of different European countries, but the multinational nature of these businesses can make it difficult for workers to be adequately represented in company decision-making. As a way to alleviate this problem, so called European Works Councils have been created to enable workers’ representatives to play a role in managerial decisions at the European […]
Austria is often cited as an EU state that could potentially follow the UK in holding a referendum on EU membership, but how have attitudes toward the EU changed in the country over recent years? Paul Schmidt states that while there remains a consistent majority among Austrian citizens for staying in the EU, criticism of European policymaking has increased […]
The province of South Tyrol experienced violent unrest in the post-war period, before being granted autonomous status within Italy in 1972. As Stephen J. Larin and Marc Röggla note, the province is currently debating the revision of its 1972 agreement by holding an ‘Autonomy Convention’. They argue that although the ability of citizens to participate in this process has been […]
A proposal to increase restrictions on abortion in Poland generated several large protests across the country in early October, with the proposal ultimately being voted down in parliament. Magdalena Mikulak argues that despite the apparent victory of the protesters, it remains likely that the government will nevertheless push for new restrictions on abortion.
On 3 October, more than 100,000 people […]
A number of actors have called for the extension of EU rules on food labelling under which food products sold in the EU are required to indicate their country of origin. Herman Lelieveldt writes that this debate is part of a wider rise in so called ‘gastronationalism’ across Europe, where food production is assigned symbolic value by those who […]
The wearing of the niqab and other items of clothing that cover the face has been the subject of intense debate in several European countries, notably France where legislation has been passed in the French parliament which prohibits the concealment of an individual’s face in public. Raphaël Liogier states that while western commentators often link the niqab to traditional […]
What does it mean for a radical or separatist group to moderate – does it change its values and goals in the process or only the ways it communicates them? Looking at the case of Irish republicans, Matthew Whiting explains how Sinn Féin and the IRA came to change their behaviour but not necessarily their goals, while also emphasising the importance […]
Since the financial crisis, central banks have taken on a far more significant role in economic management. But with diminishing returns of and unintended consequences from existing policies, monetary policy now faces a crisis of confidence. Dennis Shen explores policy innovations that could support global central banks battling deflation and proposes a new framework to better guard against financial […]
World Animal Day, held on 4 October, is intended to highlight animal rights issues and motivate governments to provide greater protection to animals across the world. To mark the occasion, Manès Weisskircher writes on the growth of the animal rights movement in Europe. He argues that while animal advocates have a wide variety of goals, their relevance to European […]
The party systems of Central and Eastern Europe are generally viewed as being less stable than those in Western Europe, with a greater level of volatility in terms of the parties that compete in successive elections. But how has this picture changed since 1990? Using a new dataset covering 11 countries, Raimondas Ibenskas and Allan Sikk outline some of […]
The informal gathering of the 27 EU leaders, excluding the United Kingdom, in Slovakia’s capital Bratislava aimed to set an agenda to help the bloc regain the trust of European voters, damaged by the outcome of Britain’s June referendum as well as by the Union’s inability to confront its many deepening crises. Dalibor Rohac outlines its hidden meaning.
The meeting was meant […]
The remaining 27 EU member state governments met in Bratislava on 16 September for their first major meeting without the UK since the Brexit referendum in June. As Solon Ardittis writes, one of the main developments to emerge from the meeting was an apparent shift in the EU’s approach to the migration crisis, with so called ‘flexible solidarity’ being […]
The EU’s fiscal oversight mechanism, the Stability and Growth Pact, which sets limits on states’ budget deficits and debt levels, was insufficient to prevent the Eurozone crisis from occurring. Nicole Rae Baerg notes that if European states are to learn from this failure, it is important to understand why the system lacked credibility. Presenting evidence from a recent study, […]
As European policymakers attempt to respond to the migration crisis, they face a challenge in terms of public opinion, with many proposed solutions, such as refugee quota systems, proving deeply unpopular in several countries. Based on a new report by the OECD, Stefano Scarpetta outlines how these challenges can be met by states dealing with large inflows of refugees.
The […]
The UK is not the only English speaking EU state, but when Ireland and Malta both joined the EU they opted to put forward Irish and Maltese as their official languages. This has led some politicians to suggest that following Brexit, English should no longer be classified as an official EU language. David Fernández Vítores writes that in practice […]
While political parties generally try and present a united front to the electorate, there can often be a significant gap between the policies supported by a party’s membership and the party leadership. Based on survey evidence in Sweden, Ann-Kristin Kölln and Jonathan Polk assess how these differences can affect the ability of parties to fight elections and how researchers […]
The US and China have announced that they have ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. This is despite Donald Trump vowing to renegotiate the agreement if he wins the US presidential election in November. Bob Ward writes that if the Agreement comes into force – which will be very likely if it is ratified by the EU’s Member […]
The European Commission is often criticised for being too distant from EU citizens and for proposing policies without adequately taking on board the views of ordinary people. But how accurate is this criticism in reality? Drawing on recent research, Christian Rauh argues that the Commission is far more responsive to public opinion than is commonly recognised.
In Eurosceptic discourses, ‘Brussels’ […]
IMF judgements on whether government austerity programmes can be successfully implemented are carefully followed by international financial markets. Markus Hinterleitner, Fritz Sager and Eva Thomann analyse the way the organisation has judged the credibility of austerity programmes in 14 European countries. They find that the IMF considers implementation credibility in its evaluations of austerity programmes, and uses these to […]
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How far should we push globalisation?
How far should we push globalisation?
From Brexit to the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, it has become common to speak of citizens turning against globalisation. But does popular opposition to globalisation justify rolling back on processes aimed at facilitating free trade? Paul De Grauwe argues that free trade has generated substantial benefits for a large number of people across the world, but at present […]