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1751. Autonomy and Strategy: What Should Europe Want?

Author:
Jolyon Howorth
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:
Europe wants autonomy and it wants a strategy. Semantically, of course, “wants” has a double meaning. First, it means “lacks”. Europe lacks autonomy and it lacks a strategy. The second meaning of wants is “desires”. Here, we have a genuine question. How many EU member states genuinely desire autonomy for the EU? How many are genuinely in favor of a grand strategy – as opposed to the EU’s default practice of just muddling through? And there is also a third meaning behind wants: “needs”. In my view, the EU needs strategic autonomy. But having said that, all I have done is set a point of arrival. How to get there?
Topic:
Defense Policy, Regional Cooperation, Military Strategy, European Union, and Autonomy
Political Geography:
Europe

1752. The End of the INF-Treaty: Context and Consequences

Author:
Didier Audenaert
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:
On 2 August both the US and the Russian Federation will no longer be restrained by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty (1987). Early this century it gradually became clear that Russia wanted to step out of the Treaty, by which it felt itself to be solely restrained. European nations should now take up a greater share of the burden of missile defence, which should get a broader mission than it has today. The debate on EU strategic autonomy can be an instrument in this endeavour. Because of the worsening security environment NATO’s non- strategic nuclear capability becomes even more important. European NATO allies and EU member states may very soon be confronted with difficult and fundamental choices for a future without the INF Treaty, which need to be communicated and explained to their national population.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Diplomacy, Military Strategy, European Union, and INF Treaty
Political Geography:
Russia and Europe

1753. Security Aspects of Connectivity

Author:
Tomas Ries
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:
Published in October 2018, the European Commission’s joint communication Connecting Europe and Asia – Building Blocks for an EU Strategy offers a good outline of the principles underlying the European Union’s (EU) connectivity interests. However, the document does not address the security implications of connectivity: it merely notes that “’flow security’ matters”. This Policy Brief attempts to cover that gap and expand on the notion of flow security. Security challenges should not be seen as an intrinsic obstacle to connectivity itself, or to its development. What we call “connectivity” today is part of a deeper trend whereby societies and economies are increasingly tied to each other, and most developed economies now bid on a further deepening of this trend, as is apparent in discussions over the “internet of things” (IoT) or “Industry 4.0”. Still, connectivity entails specific and dynamic challenges that require dedicated attention
Topic:
Security, Regional Cooperation, Science and Technology, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe and Asia

1754. Spitzenkandidaten: A debate about power and about the future development of the EU

Author:
Jim Cloos
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:
In 2014, the European Parliament staged a small 'coup' when it imposed the EPP "Spitzenkandidat" Jean-Claude Juncker as the new Commission President, on the basis of a rather innovative reading of the Treaty. In 2019, the attempt at renewing this operation failed, because of some of the inherent flaws in the concept, and because the conditions were no longer the same. The European Council was quick to reclaim its prerogatives as set out in the Treaty. This may however not be the last word and a revised version of the Spitzenkandidaten could possibly emerge from the upcoming conference on the future of the EU. But any such move towards a more federal Europe requires an informed and transparent debate and cannot be introduced via the back-door.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Regional Cooperation, Treaties and Agreements, European Union, and Centralization
Political Geography:
Europe

1755. High expectations. Interregional agendas on global security challenges: East Asia, Europe and Latin America

Author:
Manuel R. Torres Soriano
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:
Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:
Interregionalism has been increasingly used to advance cooperation on regional and global security challenges. This study examines three interregional dialogues comprising East Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Each interregional security agenda reflects specific concerns and different evolving paths. Insights from ‘multilateral security governance’ approaches can reinforce the analysis of how security agendas emerge and change, and how their related norms and practices evolve.
Topic:
Security, International Affairs, Governance, and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe, East Asia, and Latin America

1756. The EU Self-Surplus Puzzle: An Indication of VAT Fraud?

Author:
Martin T. Braml and Gabriel Felbermayr
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
Abstract:
The world runs a trade surplus with itself: Exporters report larger values of exports than what importers report as imports. This is a logically impossible but well known empirical fact. Less well known, in recent years, more than 80 percent of the global surplus is a trade surplus that the EU has with itself. In this paper, we show that this self-surplus of the EU amounts to a striking 307 billion Euro in 2018. It persists in goods, services, and secondary income accounts. It also exists within the Euro Area, and is strongest between neighboring countries. Around the 2004 Eastern Enlargement the EU’s self-surplus quadrupled. Balance of payments data from the United Kingdom appear highly distorted. We argue that the phenomenon is not only due to measurement error. Rather, a large fraction of the EU’s self-surplus puzzle seems related to fraud in value added tax. The loss in tax income could amount to as much as 64 billion Euro per year.
Topic:
International Political Economy, European Union, Trade, and Trade Policy
Political Geography:
Europe

1757. Towards a renewed Euro-African partnership

Author:
Alexandre Kateb
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Robert Schuman Foundation (RSF)
Abstract:
At a time when China is openly courting the African continent, the outgoing president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, pleaded in his September 2018 speech on the state of the Union for a “new alliance between Africa and Europe”. This alliance would be founded on “investments and sustainable jobs”[1]. Previously, the summit between the European Union and the African Union, held in November 2017 in Abidjan, had insisted on the need to “provide young people with the skills and opportunities they need through the mobilisation of intelligent, targeted investments”[2]. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for her part, wanted the deployment of a Marshall Plan for Africa. Finally, President Emmanuel Macron has committed to devote €2.5 billion to African start-ups and SMBs between now and 2022, within the framework of the “Choose Africa” initiative. Does Europe have the means to achieve its ambitions? What should be the priorities of its African strategy for 2021-2027? The renewal of the European institutions provides an opportunity to give more tangible content to the Euro-African partnership. To do so the European Union must articulate more fully the logics of NorthSouth and South-South integration, capitalising on the Moroccan experience, which has reconciled these two complementary approaches for several years now.
Topic:
European Union, Partnerships, and Investment
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and Morocco

1758. European Union-Western Balkans: for a revised membership negotiation framework

Author:
Pierre Mirel
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Robert Schuman Foundation (RSF)
Abstract:
Whilst the Thessaloniki Summit in 2003 opened up European prospects for the Western Balkans, the agenda that was promoted then has hardly been completed to date. These countries have experienced worrying democratic regression in a serious demographic and economic situation which is playing into the hands of re-emerging powers. The re-engagement of the European Union with the Berlin Process and the six flagship initiatives on the part of the Commission, approved in 2018 is positive, but is now seen to be lacking. Divisions are still deep, and reconciliation is waning. Given the fragile stability of these countries, which are now being wooed by third parties, the time has come for a new approach. Economic and political re-engagement, including the launch of membership negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, but based on a new framework, is vital for the very security of Europe.
Topic:
Security, European Union, Regional Integration, Negotiation, and Reconciliation
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

1759. Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion: From Bright Spots to System Change

Author:
Liam Patuzzi, Meghan Benton, and Alexandra Embiricos
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The dramatic increase in the number of asylum seekers arriving in Europe during 2015–16 sparked a burst of social innovation. Grassroots groups, tech start-ups, and businesses of all sizes brought new thinking and resources to bear on the challenges of receiving and integrating newcomers into European societies. Many of these challenges continue to echo across education systems, health services, labor and housing markets, and neighborhoods, even as the keen sense of crisis has waned. This report explores how social innovation in the field of refugee inclusion has evolved in the three years since the peak of the crisis. Given the successes and limitations of different initiatives thus far, it asks the question: what can social enterprises, funding bodies, and policymakers do to maintain the momentum and turn promising initiatives into broader system change? In the decades to come, European societies will have to grapple with a number of fundamental structural challenges—from changes in the world of work to new pressures on housing and health-care systems. Much will depend, the authors conclude, on governments’ ability to build on and extend the reach of the current surge in innovation, and to make the case that “innovation for refugee inclusion can be innovation for all.” This study draws on a number of convenings, advisory board meetings, and informal discussions that have taken place since 2016 as part of the Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion (SI4RI) conference, co-organized by the Migration Policy Institute Europe with the U.S. and Canadian Missions to the European Union and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC).
Topic:
Education, Migration, European Union, Employment, Refugees, and Skills
Political Geography:
Europe

1760. Money Wise: Improving How EU Funds Support Migration and Integration Policy Objectives

Author:
Hanne Beirens and Aliyyah Ahad
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
The 2015–16 European migration crisis put unprecedented strain on EU and national migration systems, and exposed the limits of EU funding mechanisms when pressed to keep pace with rapidly changing migration conditions. Since then, finding ways to better manage migration and help newcomers integrate into European societies has shot to the top of EU, Member State, and local policy agendas. European policymakers are in the midst of negotiating the next multiannual financial framework (MFF)—the European Union’s budget framework through 2027—making this an important time to reflect on how EU financial instruments could be adjusted to reflect the increased importance and changed face of migration and integration policy in Europe. This policy brief explores three key challenges: (1) how to make EU funds more inclusive by involving diverse and on-the-ground stakeholders in decision-making processes, (2) how to make sure that these financial instruments complement each other and other EU policy tools, and (3) how to ensure that decisions about EU funds are made based on solid evidence of what has and has not worked in the past. Through a close look at the European Social Fund (ESF) and Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF), the brief offers recommendations for increasing the participation of small and community-led organizations, improving accountability and reporting systems, and more.
Topic:
Migration, Immigration, Governance, European Union, and Integration
Political Geography:
Europe