Foreign policy & defence
Does enlargement matter for the EU economy?
07 March 2003
The economies of the new member-states are too small to have much impact on the current EU. The EU as a whole has gained from enlargement and will continue to do so. But labour intensive industries and border regions will have to cope with increased competition. Germany, Austria and other...
The Europeans can stick together on Iraq
07 February 2003
The emergency EU summit on Iraq has produced a useful statement on what unites Europeans in their dealing with the Iraq crisis. After the very public squabbling of recent days and weeks, EU leaders pulled back from the brink and decided to underline the common ground between them. But deep...
How Europe can help the Middle East peace process
03 February 2003
The EU member-states are deeply divided over Iraq. But on the other great issue of the Middle East the Israel-Palestine conflict they have an increasingly common perspective.
Is an old versus new European divide replacing East against West?
03 February 2003
Are there really two Europes, as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claims? His assertion in January that France and Germany represented an 'old Europe' seemed confirmed by the emergence of a 'new Europe' just a few weeks later.
Issue 28 - 2003
31 January 2003
- How Europe can help the Middle East peace process, Steven Everts
- Is an old versus new European divide replacing East against West?, Heather Grabbe
- The return of Franco-German dominance?, Charles Grant
The EU and the Middle East: A call for action
03 January 2003
The EU urgently needs a more effective and coherent Middle East strategy. With war looming against Iraq and violence escalating between Israelis and Palestinians, the EU is under intense pressure to spell out what it can do to solve these problems.
The EU and armaments co-operation
06 December 2002
Europe needs more military capabilities. Yet European defence budgets are static, and the cost of new military technologies is soaring. It is clear that governments need to extract more value out of each euro they spend.
The Copenhagen deal for enlargement
06 December 2002
The successful conclusion of accession negotiations at the Copenhagen summit on 13 December 2002 means that ten countries will join the European Union in its biggest-ever enlargement.
What role for NATO?
01 November 2002
NATO adapted well after the end of the Cold War. An organisation which had been focused on collective defence against the Soviet threat found new things to do: spreading security and stability through NATO enlargement to new members and partners in Central Europe, and applying force to impose – and...
Who's ready for EU enlargement?
01 November 2002
After more than a decade of preparation, 10 new members are set to join the EU on May 1st, 2004. However, in the final phase of negotiations, both the candidates and the EU have lost sight of the historic importance of this unprecedented expansion.
What future for NATO?
04 October 2002
With war looming against Iraq, seven new members set to join the Alliance and a growing transatlantic gap in military power, NATO's role as the world's most effective military alliance is at stake.
New designs for Europe
04 October 2002
Everybody agrees that the EU's institutions are in bad need of reform. In the Convention on the Future of Europe, and elsewhere, a real debate has begun on how Europe should be governed.
EU foreign policy: A necessity, not an option
01 October 2002
No one who has lived through the recent weeks of international crisis over Iraq can doubt that making a reality out of Europe's Common Foreign and Security Policy is both one of the highest priorities for the European Union and one of the most difficult tasks it faces.
Time for Mr ESDP?
01 October 2002
The EU's attempt to create a viable defence policy born of Franco British parentage at Saint Malo four years ago has, so far, made only limited progress.
Issue 26 - 2002
27 September 2002
- The case for a Europe-wide referendum , Steven Everts
- EU foreign policy: A necessity, not an option, David Hannay
- Time for Mr ESDP? , Daniel Keohane
Don't create Eastern Eurosceptics
05 August 2002
The EU is in danger of turning the east Europeans into eurosceptics, even before they join the Union. For the past decade, they have seen EU membership as about gaining a nice starry flag and a better way of life.
Issue 25 - 2002
26 July 2002
- Don't create Eastern Eurosceptics, Heather Grabbe
- New rules for capital markets, Alasdair Murray
- Reforming the commission , Alasdair Murray
Business in the Balkans: The case for cross-border co-operation
05 July 2002
The logic of the single market should be applied to the Balkans so that the region can achieve peace and economic growth. Yet this requires co-operation among people that in some cases have recently been at war.
The Benes decrees: Implications for EU enlargement
07 June 2002
This year's succession of election campaigns in Central and Eastern Europe has seen an increasing willingness on the part of right-wing populists to play up historical injustices and past hatreds to gain political advantage.
EU foreign policy: From bystander to actor
03 May 2002
If Europe’s leaders want the EU to play a meaningful role in global diplomacy, they must implement a series of fundamental reforms. At a minimum, they should abolish the rotating presidency, create a new Foreign Policy Council and give a right of initiative to the High Representative for foreign policy,...