After having been rejected three times by the European Council, Albania has finally been granted candidate country status, a crucial step in its transition to democracy since 1991 and its aspiration to become a part of the EU.
The European Council tried to minimize damages and improve relations with the UK, aimed at reducing the risk of them leaving the EU.
This document analyses the Euroscepticism and the European Parliament elections in 2014, the EU’s neighbourhood in light of the Ukraine crisis and power relations in the EU from a Spanish perspective.
A higher degree of autonomy in Scotland can to reopen the "West Lothian question" or the "English question", if the pro-independence lose the referendum on 18 September 2014.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister for the last 11 years and an increasingly authoritarian and polarising figure, will, as expected, run in the country’s first direct election for the presidency on 10 August.
The European Commission’s greater politicisation is positive in the sense that it brings this essentially bureaucratic institution closer to a more democratic spirit and to the Union’s citizens.
The elections to the European Parliament allowed the Front National of Marine Le Pen to become the first political force in France. In spite of the victory, Le Pen will have to continue looking for allies. What are you going to do now, Marine? Your dream of a broad Europhobe alliance in the EU parliament will have to wait, at least for the moment.
Today we have to move away from the idea of a United States of Europe, to think of the EU as a republic, as the European res publica, and to put citizens and civil society back into the centre stage that they have abandoned.
David Cameron has opposed Jean-Claude Juncker’s candidacy for the next President of the European Commission. While Juncker may not be the best candidate for the job, he is the most legitimate from a democratic perspective.
On 4th June, the European Commission recommended that Albania be granted candidate status to EU member states. This is a particularly difficult time for the country to aim at joining the club.
To halt or reverse integration would in some cases require the treaties to be reformed, a step that many governments are reluctant to take for fear of the ensuing referendums. The real battle for Europe is beginning now.
Europe needs to change, to reinvent itself. That is the message of the European elections. Towards another Europe, a combination of more Europe in some ways, less in others, and especially, a better Europe. But the election results are discouraging.
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