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Any budgetary capacity should be open towards all EU member states. Countries that have a Treaty obligation to join the eurozone and make efforts to do so, should be given complete rights of participation: they should contribute and benefit financially and take part in the governance.

A budget for the Eurozone is taking shape

By: EBR | Thursday, June 9, 2016

Budgetary capacities are an important tool to protect the eurozone from economic shocks, and their extension to non-eurozone countries could help with the economic convergence of the newer member states, writes Siegfried Muresan

Whether the European Union is democratically legitimate has been a matter of debate for decades. Aware that transferring national sovereignty to unelected technocrats in Brussels could alienate voters, national governments decided to enhance the role of the EU Parliament, the only international organization whose members are elected by universal suffrage.

How Referenda threaten the EU

By: EBR | Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Europe seems to be in a referendum frenzy these days

However, the OCA literature never suggested that labour market flexibility, or even market flexibility in general, would be sufficient to deal with all asymmetric shocks. Instead it considered EZ-wide mechanisms to also be crucial, especially for big shocks.

The Eurozone needs less heterogeneity

By: EBR | Monday, May 30, 2016

Misalignments of real exchange rates continue to be the most visible and painful symptom of asymmetric shocks within the Eurozone

Now why is this turn towards authoritarian behavior happening in a country that seemed to be firmly rooted in Western structures? The question applies even more strongly to Poland, a country that had its fill of autocrats in the many years under the Soviet thumb.

Poland—The next EU crisis? The good news: This time it’s not about money

By: EBR | Wednesday, May 25, 2016

There is reason to be cautious when judging current events in Poland. And observers are well advised not to automatically use heavy artillery when criticizing the new right-wing government in Warsaw.Why? Because Poland stands for nothing less than the biggest success story to date in Eastern Europe

What makes this moment different from earlier existential crises is that the direction of integration is more diffuse now than in the past. Some needs point toward more integration, but others perhaps point toward less. I am convinced that in the long term, the net result will be more integration.

Four predictions on the future of Europe

By: EBR | Thursday, May 12, 2016

At the end of all this madness, what is the EU going to look like? This is a question heard a lot these days, in one form or another

The portrait of the ”dangerous and violent” refugee enjoyed some of the headlines, with a particularly media frenzy as regards the fake case of the Russian girl in Germany. Indeed, one of the main sources of propaganda is Russia and Putin is said to be seeking to ”sow the seeds of discord in Europe by weakening Germany and Angela Merkel”, according to German intelligence sources quoted by Sueddeutsche Zeitung as well as the NDR and WDR television networks.

The refugee wave and the issue of Strategic Communications

By: EBR | Wednesday, May 11, 2016

In 2015, Europe experienced its highest number of refugees since the Second World War, with Syria the number one "supplier", due to the conflict there

More remarkably, Bojan Pajtic, leader of the center-left Democratic Party, traditionally supportive of EU accession, urged supporters to vote for his ideological opponents in Dveri-DSS in the repeat elections. Several other left and center-left leaders followed suit.

Anti-EU nationalist parties gain foothold in new Serbian parliament after election recount

By: EBR | Friday, May 6, 2016

A right-wing nationalist grouping staunchly opposed to EU membership and supportive of Russia has edged its way into the Serbian parliament, but in what some observers feel marks a blow to a long-standing pro-EU consensus, it has done so with the backing of some left-wing and liberal parties

However, although the state of insularity creates a large number of problems, various studies suggest that islands can become ‘lands of opportunities’ by investing in their relative strengths.

Islands and the EU

By: EBR | Thursday, May 5, 2016

The European Parliament demands a preferential treatment for islands

Terrorism can be prevented only when the information is found, shared and appropriately used, but extensive information collection restrains people’s liberty. The future will show how much people are willing to give up their freedom for their security.

Europe needs a common approach to defeating ISIS and saving refugees

By: EBR | Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The expansion and brutality of the terrorist organisation known as ISIS has been alarmingly clear for some time, but still not much has been done to put an end to or strongly interfere with its international network

On the other hand, as we have learned from the crisis, banking problems in one jurisdiction infect others very easily. UK and US banks were exposed by the Greek crisis and did not complain when EU action protected their interests!

David Cameron and the courage of real reform

By: EBR | Wednesday, April 20, 2016

The concessions the UK is winning to encourage its citizens to vote to stay in the EU could make the EU even more complicated than it is

The debate on a two or multiple speed Europe should be one based on common sense and simple key messages, in order not to get distorted or misunderstood: scare games are to be expected, one way or the other (either the ”EU will get stuck” or ”EU will lose its cohesion and key functioning principles”).

How many speeds for Europe?

By: EBR | Tuesday, April 12, 2016

The debate for a two-or a multi- speed Europe is becoming an increasingly hot topic in the EU

With the ongoing migrant crisis engulfing the continent, Vucic also pledged to take a ”quota” of refugees as part of an EU-wide solution. He says member states should agree to take up to 2m genuine asylum seeker - a figure he says equates to less than half a per cent of the EU population - then share them out fairly. ”That’s nothing for Europe and can even create new value economically.”

Serbia’s reform agenda paves way for possible EU accession by end of the decade

By: EBR | Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says the results of its reform agenda and other measures means the country is on track to meet a four-year plan paving the way for it to join the EU by the end of the decade

“Well-run cultural and natural heritage projects can bring important economic and social contributions to regional development and to urban renewal throughout Europe. This is the reason why the EIB Institute and the European Commission participate actively in ‘The 7 Most Endangered’ programme,” added Francisco de Paula Coelho, Dean of the EIB Institute.

Europe’s most endangered heritage sites

By: EBR | Thursday, March 17, 2016

Reacting to the announcement of The Most Endangered’ 2016, Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, said: “Our cultural heritage is an integral part of who we are as human beings"

A senior representative of the European External Action Service (EEAS) had made a robust defence of the EU′s Iranian policy at the conference, saying the bloc had pursued a policy of ”quiet diplomacy” which had already reaped benefits.

EU condemned for ’reckless indifference’ on Iranian human rights violations

By: EBR | Wednesday, March 16, 2016

The EU's policy on human rights towards Iran has been condemned as "reckless indifference" by a leading rights activist, the human rights lawyer Shadi Sadr

A new political poll suggest that the pro-Russian parties lead the political scene in terms of favourability with 19.8% for Renato Usati and his party, followed by the socialists – Igor Dodon with 12.8%.

Moldova: End of the political riddle?

By: EBR | Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Moldova still suffers from a profound political crisis and the new Government still has some important steps to make to renew credibility at home and abroad: from stability to hope the road is a long one

Online gaming of any kind is a sensitive issue in Russia. Last October, authorities began blocking dozens of unregistered domestic and international gaming sites.

Multi-billion dollar online gaming industry presents a taxing problem for governments

By: EBR | Friday, February 19, 2016

Well away from the headline-grabbing diplomatic tensions over the Middle East, Nato and Ukraine, policy makers of the East and West share something even they may not be fully conscious of -- the challenge of taxing global business

Driving home to global public opinion that Europe is well-prepared and capable of neutralising terrorist assaults is as important as taking the steps to do so.

“Brussels” must break its silence on tackling terrorist threats

By: EBR | Thursday, January 14, 2016

The tragic events in Paris on the evening of November 13 have once again shown that Europe has no concerted counter-terrorism plan

In retrospect, Merkel could not have relied on the European Commission, the EU’s executive, to steer the union through the euro crisis.

Angela Merkel’s second decade

By: EBR | Wednesday, January 13, 2016

More than ever before, Merkel needs Europe and vice versa.

As he pointed out in his speech, Mr Cameron is no novice on EU affairs. While his speech presents negotiating demands as sine qua nons, every political indication is that the Prime Minister will support Britain’s continued EU membership, regardless of the outcome.

Will Cameron get what he wants and will it matter if he does?

By: EBR | Friday, January 8, 2016

After several months of reluctance to play his hand, David Cameron has now released his list of demands to ensure that the UK government supports Britain remaining in the EU

Dealing with the crisis and coping with austerity together is understandably difficult for people, who in times like these are wont to turn increasingly inward and show much less generosity.

The changes essential to the EU’s Future

By: EBR | Monday, January 4, 2016

What’s needed for the future of the European Union was written into its very foundations as our common values of democracy, solidarity and the rule of law

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