An honest assessment of the refugee deal is very much needed since the EU is considering new ones with other transit countries. Both Turkey and key EU countries are facing electoral challenges as well: internal politics and foreign policy decisions are highly interwoven.
There were many winners and losers in the Dutch elections. In the case of Dutch politics and its many political parties, status-quo beat populism.
The EU needs to spend a little more on European defence, but above all to spend better, something that has not always proved to be easy.
On 7 October 2016 the Justice and Development Party revalidated its victory in the Moroccan parliamentary elections.
As a new challenge to its democratic existence, Turkey is going to a constitutional referendum on with a heavily polarised society.
The UK, a traditional energy importer, will have to realign its domestic energy and climate policy goals. It also remains to be seen whether the EU can hinge upon an ambitious international climate policy to compensate for Brexit.
In the absence of a European identity, we have to reconstruct the EU project from the basis of the citizens and the states: a European Republic.
Terrorism, the handling of the refugee crisis, economic risks, the UK’s departure, president Trump and, above all, an electoral calendar that offers no let-up.
There is a great deal at stake for the future of the EU in the coming elections in the Netherlands, France, Germany and probably Italy.
In an era in which authoritarian populists have already started to cooperate, partnerships between democratic actors are more necessary than ever.
The implementation of the Strategy comes at a time of highly adverse circumstances for the process of European integration, so that its development is not solely reliant on the content of the document or the determination of its backers.
Although the EU-Mercosur agreement is a first generation FTA, mainly focused on tariff reductions, it is necessary to highlight its geo-political significance.
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