In Italy's parliamentary elections on 25 September, the extreme right under Giorgia Meloni looks set to win. The right-wing populist is considered particularly Eurosceptic. Nevertheless, the Centro Politiche Europee ROMA (cep) does not expect an anti-EU political course. According to the author, the room for manoeuvre of a government of right-wing extremists and centre-right parties were too small for that.

The Secretary General of the Italian Federation of Banks, Insurance and Financial Markets and Professor of Political Economy, Paolo Garonna, explains in the new cep Network format, GuestAdhoc, his position on EU-Africa relations disrupted by the war in Ukraine. According to him, the war in Ukraine has led to a major crisis in EU-Africa relations, despite the fact that the European Union-African Union summit held on 17 and 18 February was perceived as a success by observers.

The European Union is lurching from one crisis to the next. Economic prosperity and democratic consensus are at risk as it never happened before. Because of this, the Centres for European Policy Network (cep) calls for rapid reforms and, more than ever, for a multi-speed Europe. Otherwise, irreversible political, economic and technological regression looms.

The Ukraine war is pushing the presidential elections in France into the background. At the same time, the question of more European sovereignty is coming into focus - a concern of Emmanuel Macron's since the first day of his presidency. The Centre de Politique Européenne in Paris has examined the situation in France in the light of Russia's war of aggression on a neighbouring state of the EU.

"Dare to take progress further" is the motto of the traffic light coalition. 100 days after taking office, the SPD, the Greens and the FDP still have a lot of work to do. This is the result of the TESS progress index compiled by cep. The index measures progress in the 27 EU states under the headings of technology, environment, social affairs and state.

Whether it is the unanimity principle, the rule of law or geostrategic importance: the European Union is at a crossroads. Germany, France and Italy - supported by new bilateral treaties - want to make the EU more capable of acting and return it to the international stage as an important player.