Section: European Parliamentary Research Service Blog (EU)
New Strategic Landscape
Written by Elena Lazarou. Marietje Schaake (ALDE, The Netherlands) On 11 May 2017, EPRS organised a public event on the EU’s external dimension, and more specifically on what the EU’s strategic priorities should be in a changing strategic landscape. The event is the second in a series of roundtables aiming to assist preparatory work...
NATO and EU defence [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Written by Marcin Grajewski, © Ch_Alexandr / Fotolia The US President, Donald Trump, will meet with the other leaders of the NATO member states at a summit in Brussels on 25 May 2017. Among issues on the table are the new US Administration’s commitment to Europe’s security, and the levels of military spending in Europe, which...
EU support for media freedom – looking East: Turkey, Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership, Russia
Written by Naja Bentzen, Velina Lilyanova, Philippe Perchoc, Martin Russell, with Clare Ferguson Each year, on 3 May, UNESCO reminds the world of the importance of press freedom to creating peaceful societies which value justice and human rights. This year’s World Press Freedom Day takes the theme of ‘Critical Minds for Critical...
Fake news’ and the EU’s response
Written by Naja Bentzen, Graphics by Christian Dietrich. © alswart / Fotolia Fake news – deliberately fabricated stories posing as journalism with the aim of manipulating readers – became an increasingly visible global phenomenon during last year’s presidential election campaign in the United States, not least due to the growing use of...
EP Plenary Session April I: Safety first
Written by Clare Ferguson, European Union, EP Following the United Kingdom’s formal notification on 29 March of its intention to withdraw from the EU, nine months after last June’s referendum, Parliament is set to debate a resolution setting out its main principles, broad objectives and red lines for the negotiations. Once adopted,...
Visa liberalisation for Ukraine [Plenary Podcast]
Written by Anita Orav, © Julydfg / Fotolia Building on its Visa Liberalisation Dialogues, the European Commission is proposing to waive visa requirements for 45 million Ukrainian citizens. In parallel, the European Union (EU) has revised its visa suspension mechanism, reinforcing safeguards to apply to all visa liberalisation agreements....
How the EU budget is spent: Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace
Written by Alina Dobreva with Philipp Wegner, © johndwilliams / Fotolia The EU contributes to the prevention of emerging crises and to an effective response to existing ones through the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace (IcSP), launched in 2014. The instrument provides funds for conflict prevention, ensuring capacity and preparedness...
Countering hybrid threats: EU-NATO cooperation [Policy Podcast]
Written by Patryk Pawlak, © luzitanija / Fotolia The concept of hybrid threat has gained traction in relation to Russia’s actions in Ukraine and the ISIL/Da’esh campaigns going far beyond Syria and Iraq. Faced with this constantly evolving challenge, the European Union and NATO have taken several steps to strengthen their respective...
Gender equality: EU challenges and policies [What Think Tanks are thinking]
Written by Marcin Grajewski, © Delphotostock / Fotolia Equality between women and men is one of the European Union’s founding values. Under the “Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019” policy plan, the EU seeks to increase female labour-market participation, reduce the gender pay gap, promote equality between women and men in...
Ten issues to watch in 2017
Written by Etienne Bassot, © WavebreakmediaMicro, chainat, AR Pictures, retrostar, Andrei Korzhyts, anjokan, VRD, psdesign1, Peter Hermes Furian, Tupungato, hurca.com, rochagneux / Fotolia This is the first edition of a new EPRS publication designed to identify key issues and policy areas that are likely to feature prominently on the agenda of...
