A plea for the German Presidency: invest boldly and smartly in the future of Europe

Nicoletta Pirozzi, Funda Tekin & Ilke Toygür. Expert Comment 26/2020 - 30/6/2020.

Expectations for leadership are high, as are hopes that the German Presidency of the Council of the EU will give substance to the claim ‘Together for Europe’s recovery’.

EU-Japan cooperation on defence capabilities: possibilities?

Michito Tsuruoka & Daniel Fiott. ARI 76/2020 - 22/5/2020.

Europe and Japan have an interest in developing defence capabilities and research but there are challenges and cooperation is conditioned by a shifting geopolitical landscape.

Life beyond multilateralism? COVID-19, European strategic autonomy and Spanish foreign policy

Félix Arteaga & Luis Simón. ARI 74/2020 (English version) - 20/5/2020.

EU and Spanish foreign policy were undergoing a transition from multilateralism to strategic autonomy to adapt to an increasingly competitive geopolitical environment. However, COVID-19 raises questions about whether international politics will be characterised by a renewal of multilateralism or an aggravation of great power competition.

Rules-based connectivity, maritime security and EU-Japan cooperation in the Indian Ocean

Luis Simón & Tomohiko Satake. ARI 70/2020 - 14/5/2020.

This paper puts forward a number of specific proposals to further EU-Japan maritime security cooperation in the Indian Ocean region.

The influence –and weakness– of Spain’s European policy in the face of the pandemic: from a diagnostic to proposals and recommendations

Ignacio Molina & Federico Steinberg. ARI 68/2020 (English version) - 12/5/2020.

This paper analyses the position of Spain in the EU’s management of the present health and economic crisis.

Regional or global player? The EU’s international profile

Iliana Olivié & Manuel Gracia. Elcano Policy Paper 2/2020 - 5/5/2020.

By means of the Elcano Global Presence Index, this policy paper aims to depict the EU’s international profile while tracking to what extent its features and the objectives of the EU’s global strategy are aligned with the volume, nature and geographical allocation of the Union’s external projection.

Thirty years of EU-Mediterranean Policies (1989-2019): an assessment

Bichara Khader & Haizam Amirah-Fernández. WP 8/2020 (English version) - 27/4/2020.

This working paper seeks to present a critical overview of the EU’s latest major Mediterranean policies, analysing the context, the text and the pretext of each of these policies.

Will European defence survive Coronavirus?

Daniel Fiott. Expert Comment 11/2020 - 27/3/2020.

How the virus will hit European defence over the long-term remains to be seen, of course. What can be said with a degree of certainly, however, is that Europe’s defence budgets may take a sizeable hit while Europe’s economies recover from the virus.

The case for EU-Japan digital connectivity and digital ODA

Maaike Okano-Heijmans. ARI 30/2020 - 25/3/2020.

The 2019 EU-Japan Connectivity Partnership paves the way for EU-Japan cooperation on all three practical elements of digital connectivity: telecommunications infrastructure, business and regulation. Cooperation should be implemented at both the practical and strategic levels, and beyond the bilateral agenda.

The EU, coronavirus and crisis management: is ‘solidarity’ real or just a prop?

Ilke Toygür. Expert Comment 8/2020 - 20/3/2020.

Coronavirus, is now present throughout Europe. Although it is the health of the people of the EU that must come first, also at stake are the credibility of its institutions, its economy and its image in the world.