Commission President Ursula von der Leyen | © European Union 2019 - Source: EPWhen Ursula von der Leyen said in her election speech in the European Parliament on 16th July 2019 that 'there can be no compromise when it comes to respecting the Rule of Law', it was a beam of hope that the EU had finally recognized that this was its most fundamental priority if it were t ...
Angela Merkel | © European Union 2019Negotiations on the most important appointments in the EU show that the era of Adenauer-ism, of the culture of consensus, and the common European interest is about to go extinct. For the first time since the EU has been created, finding a compromise is so difficult and at the same time, so ...
Manfred Weber | © European Union 2019Last year, when he first appeared before MEPs in Strasbourg after his election as French President, Emmanuel Macron announced that his goal was Europe based on "true democracy." By "true" he meant a return to the roots of democracy, that is, with the participation of citizens. That is ...
Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron | © Council of the EUOn 15 September, it will be 10 years since the crash of Lehman Brothers which marked the beginning of the severest global financial crisis since the Great Depression, which had the potential to ruin the euro area and hence the EU. In the past decade the world has radically changed. The financial ...
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic | © KGKThe football World Cup in Russia started with the familiar ethno-nationalism in the region of former Yugoslavia. Then, it evolved into a very rare unity and brotherhood among the peoples in the ex-state to return, again, in the channel of nationalism, leaving bitterness and disappointment behind ...
Klaus Regling | © Council of the EUSomewhat unnoticed and without much fireworks on August 20th the euro area will finally close the crisis that started in 2009 and threatened the EU's most successful project with a breakup. On that date, Greece will exit its third rescue programme and, according to the European Commission, will ...
Benoit Coeure | © Council of the EUThe Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (CVM) of the European Commission proved an obstacle not only for Bulgaria's membership in Schengen but the euro area, too. The July Eurogroup discussed Bulgaria's application for membership in the common currency and changed for the first time its ...
| © Council of the EUThe 9th of July 2018 was a remarkable day. Several things happened in a single day that are significant for European integration (or rather disintegration). Right after re-organising Turkey into a presidential republic, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan closed down the ministry of European integrat ...
Macron, Merkel, Abe, Trump | © Council of the EUThe decision of President Donald Trump to take the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, from the Pacific trade partnership, the re-negotiation of the North-American free trade agreement, then the introduction of tariffs on aluminium and steel, including against the until recently cl ...
Mario Centeno | © Council of the EUDo you remember the beginning of 2015, when Greece was just about to exit the recession after painful and tormentous reforms? At the time, the anti-establishment party SYRIZA won the elections on a promise to re-negotiate the Greek bailout programme and to deliver debt write-off. That year ...
Bakir Izetbegovic, Andrej Plenkovic | © Council of the EUSome say that the EU-Western Balkans summit was a historic one. Others say it was successful. Without necessarily both claims to be false, their validity is wrong. It is explained that the summit was historic because it was the first in 15 years. The last summit with the Western Balkans (in the ...
Aleksandar Vucic, Recep Tayyip Erdogan | © Serbian PresidencyAgainst the backdrop of the incessant provocations of Serbia's Defence Minister Alexander Vulin to neighbouring countries, and especially Croatia, the draft [in Serbian language] of a new national security strategy, published for public discussion by his ministry, makes an unsuccessful ...