European Union

The meeting of the European Council will take place on 21 and 22 March in the Europa building in Brussels. The press centre is located in the adjacent Justus Lipsius building.

The EU is promoting increased use of zero- and low-emission vehicles by setting out minimum procurement targets to encourage public bodies to choose them in public procurement.

Council adopts its position on new rules to better protect whistleblowers across the European Union

EU ambassadors endorsed the provisional agreement reached on new amendments to the 2014 regulation on the statute and funding of European political parties and foundations.

European Council President Donald Tusk highlighted the main subjects discussed during his meeting with Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern.

EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini welcomed on Friday the vote by the Greek parliament in Athens to ratify a deal on neighbouring Macedonia's name. The Prespa Agreement sees the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) become North Macedonia, following a decades-long dispute with Greece over its region named Macedonia. The deal potentially unlocks North Macedonia's path to joining the EU and Nato.

As we prepare to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we can hardly remain composed in our mourning. Rather than observe silence as the deepest mourning is solitary, we feel like shouting.

The best world news to come in a long time is today’s vote by the Greek parliament, ratifying the so-called Prespa agreement and putting an end to the name dispute between Athens and Skopje.

Brexit looks to dominate news this week as British MPs gear up for a vote on how to break the internal deadlocks over the proposed deal with the European Union.

Unlike other groups, LREM is allowing itself until the start of March to reveal who will lead its list for the European elections, hoping it will therefore have the time to mobilise its political partners at the European Parliament. EURACTIV France reports.

As the World Economic Forum prepared to wind down on Friday (25 January), a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist took the stage to warn world leaders that their successes come at "unthinkable price tags" for the rest of the global community. 

European Union leaders warmly welcomed the historic ratification by the Greek parliament on Friday (25 January) of the North Macedonia name change deal, the so-called Prespa Agreement, putting an end to a 27-year conflict in the Balkans.

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

© Delphotostock / Fotolia

On 15 January, the House of Commons overwhelmingly rejected the Withdrawal Agreement which the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, had negotiated with the rest of the European Union, throwing into disarray efforts to ensure the country’s orderly exit from the bloc. However, the Prime Minister then survived a no-confidence vote tabled by the Opposition and later proposed tweaking her deal in a bid to win over rebel Conservative law-makers and the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party, on which her government depends for its majority. British and European politicians are weighing various options as to how to proceed.

This note offers links to reports and commentaries from some major international think-tanks and research institutes on Brexit negotiations and related issues. More reports on the topic can be found in a previous edition of ‘What Think Tanks are thinking’, published in December 2018.

The Prime Minister moves an inch on Brexit
Institute for Government, January 2019

After the meaningful vote: What are Theresa May’s options?
Centre for European Reform, January 2019

Brexit and crisis management: No deal and the future relationship
The UK in a Changing Europe, January 2019

The EU’s ‘no deal’ strategic headache
European Policy Centre, January 2019

The way forward: Can a protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement save the Prime Minister’s deal?
The UK in a Changing Europe, January 2019

Brexit disorder: Corbyn and May
European Council on Foreign Relations, January 2019

We regret and we need more clarity: European reactions to the ‘meaningful vote’
Open Europe, January 2019

We are entering a new phase of Brexit distractions
Institute for Government, January 2019

Failed deal spells uncertainty for Brexit and May’s long-term survival
Carnegie Europe, January 2019

Non-euro countries in the EU after Brexit
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, January 2019

The risks of the ‘Grieve amendment’ to remove precedence for Government business
Policy Exchange, January 2019

By accident or design, a pre-Brexit general election remains the most plausible outcome
The UK in a Changing Europe, January 2019

Bracing for Brexit: Could ‘no deal’ chaos spread to Germany?
European Council on Foreign Relations, January 2019

What the Brexit shambles says about the state of British democracy
German Marshall Fund, January 2019

The contest to ‘take control’ of Brexit
Policy Exchange, January 2019

What Brexit means
Council on Foreign Relations, January 2019

The Prime Minister’s negotiation failed: The UK must learn the lessons
European Centre for International Political Economy, January 2019

The need for a People’s Vote
Policy Network, January 2019

Brexit showdown
Carnegie Europe, January 2019

LSE blog: Brexit
London School of Economics, January 2019

Will Jeremy Corbyn rescue Britain from its Brexit disaster?
Peterson Institute for International Economics, January 2019

Brexit endgame: Parliament votes down Theresa May’s Brexit deal
Brookings Institution, January 2019

EU budget implications of a no-deal Brexit
Bruegel, January 2019

Brexit, Asia and the increased lure of Europe
Friends of Europe, January 2019

What would it take for the EU to extend Article 50?
Institute for Government, January 2019

The UK’s Brexit breakdown
Scottish Centre for European Relations, January 2019

Between amputation and strengthening: What Brexit?
Jacquest Delors Instiute, January 2019

A route out of the Brexit crisis?
Scottish Centre for European Relations, January 2019

The implications of no-deal Brexit: Is the European Union prepared?
Bruegel, January 2019

May survives confidence vote, but now must deliver a new Brexit plan
Atlantic Council, January 2019

Lessons in leadership: Theresa May and Brexit
Atlantic Council, January 2019

Food politics and policies in post-Brexit Britain
Chatham House, January 2019

How a second referendum could be the best way to overcome Brexit impasse
Bruegel, December 2018

The Brexit endgame: Key challenges ahead – Perspectives from Germany, Ireland and Scotland
Kondrad Adenauer Stiftung, December 2019

Brexit: Next steps in UK’s withdrawal from the EU
House of Commons Library, 2018

Read this briefing on ‘Brexit: The lastest impasse‘ on the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

The financial statements of German political parties for 2017 once again demonstrated that business is particularly generous during elections, with the Union of CDU and CSU benefitting in particular. Critics argue that these donations distort democracy. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Marine plastic pollution, much of it garbage from the Asia-Pacific region but also from Europe, is pushed into the Arctic seas by global ocean currents. Scientists are also increasingly detecting microscopic plastic particles brought to the Arctic by long-range winds.

The UK chancellor, Philip Hammond, warned on Friday that a no-deal Brexit on 29 March was "a default that we could find ourselves in". With no breakthrough in sight after prime minister Theresa May's deal was voted down by a 230 majority, Hammond told the BBC that "there will be a short-term impact through disruption. There will be a long-term impact through a reduction in the size of our economy".

Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaidó has said he won't rule out the possibility of an amnesty for the head of state Nicolás Maduro if he voluntarily steps down. Guaidó declared himself interim president on Wednesday, with the US and many Latin American countries promptly recognising him. The military continues to back Maduro. A look at the commentaries shows how the conflict is dividing the international community.