European Union

How should democratic states co-operate with authoritarian governments in the future? My organisation, Democracy Reporting International, has studied the security strategies of 13 democratic governments to understand how they see this relationship.

As China’s capital city heads into lockdown and COVID-19 cases in the world's second-largest economy are on the rise, Europe is set to benefit from China’s continued low demand for liquefied fossil gas (LNG).

Russia’s war on Ukraine and its consequences for Europe’s security order usher the European integration project into a new chapter: The phase of power, writes Ricardo Borges de Castro.

Rewatch this EURACTIV Virtual Conference to learn what potential there is for harmonised digital solutions for separate collection of waste and labelling in the EU. How can challenges like multi-language packaging be addressed? What are the advantages and limitations of digital labelling and digital product passports?

Research by various German media has reignited the debate on the distribution of EU agricultural subsidies since funds are largely allocated based on agricultural area, which benefits large agricultural corporations in particular.

The Next Generation EU programme financed by EU debt does not overstep the EU's competences as long as it is clearly linked to the economic crisis that was triggered by the COVID pandemic, the German constitutional court ruled.

Brussels gave France the green light Friday (2 December) to ban domestic short-haul flights where a train journey under two-and-a-half-hours is available, paving the way for member states to force a shift from sky to rail on environmental grounds.

The EU Council formalised its position on the European digital identity at the Telecom Council meeting on Tuesday (6 December).

Written by Ulrich Jochheim.

Founded in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is often compared with the EU. Both organisations brought together former adversaries and successfully resolved tensions through cooperation, helping to bring peace and prosperity to their regions. However, the EU and ASEAN operate in very different ways. ASEAN is a strictly intergovernmental organisation in which decisions are based on consensus. While this approach has made it difficult for south-east Asian countries to achieve the same level of integration as the EU, it has also enabled ASEAN to accommodate huge disparities among its 10 member states.

ASEAN’s impact has been uneven. The organisation is an effective platform for cooperation between its member states and the wider Indo-Pacific region, but its goal of promoting peaceful cooperation is undermined by growing geopolitical tensions, especially in the South China Sea and with regard to Myanmar. While there has been significant economic integration, the goal of an EU-style single market is still a long way off – something that partially explains why intra-regional trade remains relatively weak.

EU-ASEAN relations span more than four decades and have steadily deepened, building on common values as well as booming trade and investment. In 2020, the two sides upgraded to a strategic partnership. In the current environment of huge geopolitical challenges, both sides seem determined to take their bilateral cooperation to a higher level, as exemplified by the new plan of action (2023-2027), the first bilateral summit at leaders’ level and the ongoing and intensifying cooperation between the European Parliament and the ASEAN member states’ parliaments.

This briefing updates a previous one published in November 2021.

Read the complete briefing on ‘ASEAN: The EU’s strategic partner in Asia‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

The EU-Western Balkans Summit took place in Tirana on Tuesday (6 December), parallel to a large, opposition-led protest which erupted into scuffles, with protestors accusing the government of corruption.

The European Parliament reached a deal on the platform workers’ directive, pending confirmation by the Employment and Social Affairs Committee on 12 December.

The agribusiness narrative is a masquerade. A smokescreen to water down environmentally-friendly reforms and maintain industrial agriculture. A smokescreen to which a majority of European policy-makers, including member states, are dangerously buying into.

The EU has handed over an updated draft of its proposal for the normalisation of ties between Kosovo and Serbia to the two Western Balkan countries, with a timeline and an outline of actions, EURACTIV.com has learnt.

The EU and G7 states introduced a price cap of 60 dollars (57 euros) per barrel for Russian oil on Monday. In conjunction with the partial embargo on oil imports to the EU, the measure is aimed at making it more difficult for Russia to finance its war against Ukraine. A spokesman for the Kremlin said his country had prepared for this eventuality. The press is at odds over the effectiveness of this strategy.

Latvia has withdrawn the broadcasting licence of Russian TV station Dozhd, which had moved from Russia to Riga, on the grounds that it is endangering national security. Dozhd, which has so far been considered critical of the Kremlin, had presented a map showing Crimea as part of Russia, and in a live broadcast news moderator Alexey Korestelev expressed his hope that the station had been able to help Russian soldiers with equipment. Dozhd fired Korostelev and apologised - but to no effect.