Publications Archive

Between 4 and 12 November, the Commission candidates will have to answer questions before the European Parliament. The touchstone will be the so-called Mission Letters, in which President Ursula von der Leyen assigns tasks and portfolios to the new Commissioners until 2029. The Centre for European Policy (cep) scrutinised the candidates, departments and EU initiatives, particularly with regard to the internal market and competition. The result: many things should have been more ambitious and structured.

Migration and asylum policy has long been a central element of the European political agenda, both in the EU and in its member states. In the final months of the last legislative period, the Union agreed on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, which creates a new European framework for this issue.

Given the specificity of the Italian social and economic model, the declining birth rates registered in the country are threatening  national economic prospects and the sustainability of the welfare system, posing a significant challenge for the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's conservative, right-wing government.

The Commission is announcing a package of measures with the aim to reset digital education in the Member States in order to equip learners with digital skills. A cepPolicyBrief highlights the central aspects of the Action Plan.

By means of a Council recommendation, the EU Commission wants to improve the comparability of vocational qualifications acquired in the Member States and integrate modern competence requirements into the curriculum. A cepPolicyBrief examines the proposal.

In order to provide financial support to Member States to help them cope with the economic consequences of the Corona pandemic, the EU has created the "SURE instrument". In concrete terms, SURE provides temporary support to reduce the risk of unemployment. A cepInput is investigating what to make of the subsidisation of corona-related national short-time work programmes.

The EU Commission has published guidelines on the application of the Professional Qualifications Recognition Directive to address the shortage of doctors and nurses as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. A cepInput evaluates to what extent the guidelines can contribute to combat the increased shortage of skilled workers.

In January 2020, the EU Commission published a consultation paper on "fair minimum wages". The aim is a legal binding measure for minimum wages at EU level. The cepInput examines the legal question on the leeway available to the Commission in this context.

Following the uncoordinated and in some cases arbitrary closure of national borders as a result of the Corona crisis, the EU Commission has published Guidelines to better coordinate entry restrictions at the internal market borders. In doing so, the EU Commission relies on the cooperation of the Member States. The cep has evaluated the guidelines.

The cep evaluates in five cepAdhocs the central work orders from Ursula von der Leyen to the new EU commissioners. The first cepAdhoc deals with the topic "An economy that works for people", for which Valdis Dombrovskis will be responsible as Executive Vice-President.