Publications Archive

Growing migration flows have become one of the most pressing political issues in the European Union. Despite the recent compromise reached by the member states, a solution to the problem is not in sight. The Centre for European Policy (cep) considers the EU's so-called asylum pact to be unrealistic and unfinanceable.

At just 34, Gabriel Attal becomes the youngest Prime Minister of France since the beginning of Republics, in 1792. Emmanuel Macron wants to use his "energy" and "commitment" to implement his "rearmament" and "regeneration" project imagined for the second part of his second term in office. His mission will be a difficult one: he must lead the government and the presidential majority through a new electoral cycle (European and municipal elections), get laws passed in the Parliament without any absolute majority, keep on getting along with President Macron, but also strengthen the country sufficiently such that the far right does not win the 2027 presidential elections. Not to mention the surprises that are bound to happen. If he succeeds despite all these pitfalls, he will then have a chance of becoming the next President of the French Republic.

Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia: for years, the countries of the Western Balkans (WB6) have been striving to join the European Union. For just as long, the EU has been stalling them, citing rule-of-law and economic deficits. The Centre for European Policy (cep) considers this hesitation dangerous in view of the geopolitically tense situation for Europe and therefore pleads for a quick admission - under changed institutional conditions.

Poland and Hungary are increasingly abusing the EU's unanimity principle to block decisions and enforce their own benefits. With attacks on the rule of law, they undermine European values and ultimately the sovereignty of the EU. There are hardly any remedies in sight. Ejection from the EU is just as difficult to implement as an "EU 2.0", as a study by the Centre for European Policy (cep) shows.

In a year from now, Europe will go to the polls. But how legitimate and democratic is an election in which turnout is low, no uniform binding rules apply and Spitzenkandidaten (the party nominees for President) play only a minor role? The Centres for European Policy Network (cep) calls for uniform procedures, issues and campaigns to strengthen the Parliament, and for a lowering of the voting age to 16 across the EU.

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.