Catherine E. De Vries
Following the European election results, Ursula von der Leyen faces a rocky road to confirmation as President of the Commission for a second term, writes Catherine E. De Vries. The key question is how she is going to be able to satisfy very different demands from the various groupings. Read more
Jaap Hoeksma
Jaap Hoeksma argues that Jacques Delors’ 1985 non-vision of the European Union as an 'Unidentified Political Object' has actually come to pass – with a little help from the European Court of Justice Read more
Jaap Hoeksma
The European Commission's intervention in the Polish crisis concerning the Lex Tusk is most welcome, writes Jaap Hoeksma. To be credible, however, the EU must also have its own house in order Read more
Steffen Hurka
Why are laws often so hard to understand? Steffen Hurka argues that the complexity of laws increases when political conflict becomes more intense and when decision-making becomes more inclusive. Democracies aim for compromise and the balancing of interests, and complex laws are the inevitable consequence Read more
Aline Bartenstein
Former Commission President Juncker proclaimed that 'solidarity is the glue that keeps our Union together'. But behind this general claim, the concept of solidarity remains nebulous. A federal perspective, argues Aline Bartenstein, helps us to understand the features of solidarity between member states, and why the counter-principle of subsidiarity is necessary Read more
Catherine Moury
Catherine Moury, Stella Ladi, Daniel Cardoso and Angie Gago argue that bailed-out governments during the Eurozone crisis exercised more leverage than assumed. Despite international market pressure and creditors’ conditionality, bailed-out governments were able to advocate, resist, shape or roll back some of the policies demanded by the EU’s Troika Read more
Filip Ilkowski
Relations between Poland and the EU have reached a nadir with the recent clash between the Polish Constitutional Court and the European Union Court of Justice. This conflict, argues Filip Ilkowski, reflects much deeper divisions connected to EU geopolitics and ideological clashes in Polish society Read more
Giovanni Capoccia
Giovanni Capoccia argues that the 2022 French Presidential elections could constitute a greater threat to the EU than any current challenge. Although unlikely at present, a Eurosceptic French President would precipitate the greatest crisis in the EU’s history – and there is still much to play for Read more
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