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recent event	• • •
Cross-border crime and corruption in Europe: What next after the Stockholm Programme?
20 January, Berlin Building on the Stockholm Programme will require an honest look at the added value of the EU in combating cross-border crime and corruption. As some aspects of the Stockholm Programme have been implemented, it is clear that what is not needed is further legislation. Rather, it behoves EU and national authorities to concentrate on the consolidation and implementation of what has already been decided. Read more

RECENT EVENT	• • •
Western Balkans: Fast lane, slow lane
Negotiations for accession to the EU are notoriously technical but enlargement is a political process, noted Miroslav Lajčák, Slovakia’s Deputy Prime Minister at our 12th yearly European Policy Summit on the Balkans. As Serbia and Albania demonstrated recently, moving into the fast lane towards EU accession takes political will and determination. Speakers included EU Commissioner for Enlargement Štefan Fûle, Foreign Affairs Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Nikola Poposki, Montenegro's Vice Prime Minister Igor Lukšić and Albanian Foreign Affairs Minister Ditmir Bushati. Read more

recent EVENT	• • •
EU-China: The next ten years
Highlights Li Keqiang, Premier of the People's Republic of China - Read here Herman Van Rompuy, European Council President - Read here Wang Xiaochu, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress of China (NPC) - Read here Pascal Lamy, former WTO Director General - Read here Executive summary Go to videos: English/中文

UPCOMING EVENT

The EU's new leaders: Key post-elections challenges

The Brussels Think Tank Dialogues are annual policy forums for critical reflection on the state of the EU and the joint development of analysis and recommendations to improve EU policies. The Dialogues are designed to address pressing political concerns as well as to offer recommendations on specific issues.
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Policy briefing

Ten years On:
Rebooting EU-China relations

The EU-China Summit just held in Beijing offered a much-needed moment of reflection and respite after a fraught year marked by tense exchanges over trade and reciprocal accusations of arrogance, indifference and neglect. This background briefing reviews the main challenges ahead for stronger cooperation between Beijing and Brussels.

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VIDEO CORNER
Competitive Europe
Fatih Birol, International Energy Agency Chief Economist on the implications of high energy prices on European competitiveness. Watch the video See more videos

News

Erdogan meets EU leaders

Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in Brussels to discuss Turkey’s longstanding membership bid with European Union presidents, marking his first visit to the city in five years.

Egypt adopts new constitution amid protests
Egypt’s electoral commission announced that 98% of voters approved a draft constitution in a referendum with a turnout of 38.6%, replacing the document introduced by former president Mohamed Morsi in 2012.

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Guest Contributions

EU-China Partnership: less strategic, but stronger

By Mikael Mattlin.Two major structural changes have impacted on the EU-China strategic partnership. The first concerns the wider global security context.

This defence summit is a golden opportunity that mustn’t go to waste

By Mario Mauro. The last decade has been marked by some important developments in the global security environment. Western armed forces and the Euro-Atlantic security institutions in general, have been deeply involved in the politically controversial “twin-conflicts” in Iraq and Afghanistan.

All Guest Contributions

Europe's World

Europe's World, the only EU-wide policy journal with a readership of over 100,000, has a new website. Visit www.europesworld.org
In 25 years’ time, hospitals will be as airports are to airlines – integral to success but not the principal focus By Mark Pearson, Head of the OECD’s Health Division
Europe needs to foreground education as a safeguard for the future to nurture the talents and potential of people, and to spur economic and societal recovery By Mary McAleese, President of Ireland (1997-2011) and president of the EU high-level group on modernisation of higher education
The energy issues dragging the EU economy down By Mark Lewis, Former head of energy research at Deutsche Bank

ALL articles

Trustees speak out

The 2014 elections will test Europe's heart and soul
By Monica Frassoni. We must at least try to convince the people of Europe that not only do they have a say in EU affairs, but that unless they speak up, Europe will split again and our collective irrelevance will be inevitable.

Future generations must be “proud” Europeans
by Anna Diamantopoulou. I recently spoke to postgraduate students at the Harvard Kennedy School. It was a really brilliant class of 25-year-olds from Europe, USA and the Asia Pacific.

articles

Publications

Europe's energy outlook: Heading in the right direction?

“Every percent of CO2 emission reduction means more investment, higher costs, less industry, less growth and fewer jobs,” Gunther Oettinger, EU Commissioner for Energy, said at Friends of Europe’s 10th annual Energy Summit, discussing the new 2030 climate and energy framework. “To be realistic is key. To be ambitious – it’s a nice word, but it’s not my policy.”

The changing energy Map: Its implications for economic competitiveness

“It has rarely been so critical for Europe, since the Second World War, to shape sound energy policies – 2014 is critical”, IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol told Friends of Europe’s conference to launch the 2013 World Energy Outlook. “There will be winners and losers from changes in the energy markets – but if we do not address climate change, there will be only losers.”

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Op-eds

Not yet a “pivot” - but EU-Asia relations get more active and intense
by Shada Islam. It’s going to be a hectic and intense few weeks of EU-Asia interaction, as top EU officials hold a record-breaking number of meetings in November with leading policymakers in China, Japan, Indonesia and Myanmar.

Aung San Suu Kyi must help end Buddhist-Muslim violence
By Shada Islam and Patricia Diaz. Myanmar opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s presence in Strasbourg to receive the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize is a potent reminder of just how far the Nobel laureate and her once-pariah nation have travelled in the last few years.

All op-eds

Friends of Europe – Les amis de l'Europe is a leading think-tank that aims to stimulate thinking on key global and European political challenges. Our insightful and timely publications and animated debates provide access to sharp analysis and information. We promote the confrontation of ideas that is vital to policymaking and encourage wider involvement in Europe’s future.