Visnja Vukov
Comparing Central and Eastern Europe with the Western Balkans, Visnja Vukov argues that the EU’s governance of economic integration is a decisive lever of transformation. When the EU prioritises and credibly enforces these requirements, it constrains rent-seeking and weakens state capture. When the EU defers them, however, governments can entrench clientelist political–economic coalitions Read more
Chimdi Chukwukere
The German government is selling its record wage increase as 'support for workers'. But the wage hike also reveals a shift in how the country thinks about migration and economic planning. The higher wage floor is part of a bigger strategy to manage labour shortages, attract skilled talent, and protect long-term competitiveness, writes Chimdi Chukwukere Read more
Veronica Anghel
The Russia-Ukraine war forced the EU to speak the language of power, but it didn’t turn the EU into a state. Veronica Anghel argues that EU geopolitics looks different: dense ties, not just hard power. Enlargement is the EU’s prime relational technology – binding security to markets, institutions, and publics Read more
László Bruszt
László Bruszt and Julia Langbein argue that EU market rules, when applied to weaker economies, can trigger damaging side effects. Unless anticipated and managed, these risks threaten not just candidate countries but the European Union itself. Lessons from the 2004 enlargement are vital as Ukraine moves closer to membership Read more
Tom Hunter
Tom Hunter, Natasha Wunsch and Marie-Eve Bélanger argue that Russia’s war has exposed the double-edged nature of European discourse. The EU has long sustained itself through words; now language has become strategy, shaping what is politically possible. For the EU to endure, this rhetorical power must become institutional commitment Read more
Lesley-Ann Daniels
Lesley-Ann Daniels and Marc Sanjaume-Calvet explore a paradox at the heart of Ukraine’s path to EU membership: the strongest pro-European voices are often the least supportive of minority rights. Drawing on new survey data, they call for a more adaptive and politically sensitive enlargement strategy Read more
Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén
Talking shop or powerhouse? The role of the European Parliament in foreign affairs is the subject of much debate. Magdalena Frennhoff Larsén explains how the Parliament has contributed to the current momentum around enlargement – an area where parliamentary influence is often overlooked – and how the European Commission is increasingly recognising, and valuing, the parliamentary dimension Read more
Albrecht Rothacher
On the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre in eastern Bosnia, Albrecht Rothacher looks back at the significance of that event, and the confederal State it produced. Three decades on, can the EU realistically consider Bosnia and Herzegovina as a potential member state? Read more
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