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Jennifer Dusdal As the world’s third largest producer of scientific knowledge, scientists in Germany publish more articles than those in any other country, except for the U.S. and China. Germany is the birthplace of both the modern research university and the independent extra-university research institute. Germany’s dual-pillar research policy, developed over the twentieth century, we […]
Hospital cleaner, Hassan Akkad, pulled at the nation’s heartstrings when he Tweeted a video this week with an urgent message to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. In the video, shot in his car wearing his NHS hospital scrubs, an emotional Hassan complained to Mr Johnson that he felt “stabbed in the back”. Why? Because the government had decided […]
Because of Brexit, Britain is rapidly propelling away from Europe, involving the loss of free trade, and free movement of people, with our neighbouring countries. Is that really what Britain wants? The UK government seems determined to close all possibilities of a successful new relationship with our closest countries on our continent. Instead, we’re moving away from […]
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Since the euro crisis, the European Central Bank (ECB) has expanded its powers from monetary policy to banking supervision in the Eurozone. In the framework of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), established in 2013, the ECB became responsible for the direct supervision of the largest banks of Eurozone countries.
There are lessons to be learned from the EU’s responses to the Covid-19 crisis. The pandemic reveals the absolute need for further cooperation in the EU if the member states are to manage these types of health crises effectively. Importantly, the crisis has shown that the social and economic costs of not being able to […]
In a celebratory Tweet, Home Secretary Priti Patel has announced the end of ‘free movement’. She wrote: ‘We’re ending free movement to open Britain up to the world. It will ensure people can come to our country based on what they have to offer, not where they come from.’ Her Tweet is an insult to […]
‘Visit Europe from 1 January 2021’ is the title of the UK government website which ironically tells you how much more difficult visiting ‘Europe’ will be from next year. Yes, we’re getting our country back (really?) but instead, we’re losing our continent, or at least, easy access to it. Among some of the key points for […]
A no-deal Brexit now looks almost certain, with the latest round of talks between the UK and the EU ending in stalemate, and the negotiations by all accounts turning acrimonious. It’s almost as if the British government wants a no-deal, even though the non-binding ‘political statement’ of the Withdrawal Agreement, approved by the UK Parliament, […]
The EU’s support for R2P The EU’s engagement with the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) – a principle agreed by UN members in 2005 to prevent and respond to atrocities – reflects a surprisingly mixed record in some respects. The slow pace and, at times, ambivalence with which the EU has explicitly embraced R2P, in spite […]
Ten years ago this week, in May 2010, I moved to Brussels for the first time. I went there to do research for my doctoral thesis, because I wanted to understand how EU interest groups got access to information. I wanted to be in Brussels to go beyond what was accessible on EU websites at the […]
This Bank Holiday weekend we have celebrated VE Day – Victory in Europe, and the end at last, in May 1945, of our continent’s most devastating and brutal war. We especially remember those who fought so hard and valiantly to save us from the menacing march of the ferocious Nazi war machine. Yes, we won, […]
Boris Johnson’s re-election as prime minister and the decisive majority his now completely pro-Brexit Conservative Party won in the December 2019 general election were bound to further strain the already difficult relationship between the central government in London and the Scottish government in Edinburgh. While the Tories managed to win almost two thirds of the […]
While the coronavirus pandemic and climate change are inherently different issues, they share two important characteristics: both are global crises that threaten the lives of millions of people. Yet only one crisis has inspired widespread, drastic action from countries across the globe.
