• Insight by Charles Grant, 21 July 2009

    Carl Bildt is better known throughout the world than most of his fellow EU foreign ministers – and many of the prime ministers, too.

  • Opinion piece by Hugo Brady
    The Wall Street Journal, 30 June 2009

    Britain's European debate has gone septic. More than half of British votes cast in recent European elections went to euro-skeptic parties ranging from the mad, bad political fringes such as the British National Party to a Conservative Party promising to claw back powers from Brussels.

  • Insight by Simon Tilford, 25 June 2009

    Britain’s media and political class have a right to be sceptical about the EU, even hostile to it. But they also have an obligation to be honest about the economic implications of a retreat from full membership of the Union. Their failure to do so is dishonest and poses a serious risk to Britain’s prosperity. 

  • Insight by Hugo Brady, 10 June 2009

    EU policies were not the issue that guided most voters in last week’s elections to the European Parliament. The economic crisis and job safety were uppermost in people’s minds.

  • Insight by Simon Tilford, 05 May 2009

    The British tend to deride France as a hopelessly statist, anti-entrepreneurial country full of bolshie workers intent on extracting disproportionate rewards for their labour and a state too weak to resist them. This characterisation is not wholly inaccurate.

  • Briefing note by Charles Grant, 01 May 2009

    Spain punches below its weight in EU policy-making. Since Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero became prime minister, five years ago, Spanish influence in the EU has diminished.

  • CER - University of Birmingham, Essay by Clara Marina O'Donnell, 01 May 2009

    Sluggish economic growth, high unemployment, ageing populations, climate change and security challenges on the borders of Europe have been some of the top priorities on the European agenda since the early 1990s. The EU has tried to tackle these issues, notably through its commitments to reduce greenhouse gases and its Lisbon strategy for economic growth.

  • Opinion piece by Hugo Brady
    E!Sharp, 03 April 2009

    The credibility of Ireland’s already weak government will be on the line when it puts the Lisbon Treaty to a second referendum later this year.