Politics & Public Policy

I notice it’s been some six months since my last post here, which reflects on both the new pace of UK-EU relations and the lack of anything useful to add to the debate. I did bestir myself to write about the return of finance-based framing back in November, as various people noticed this was a […]

Bao-Chau Pham When the European Union‘s Artificial Intelligence Act finally entered into force on 1 August 2024, it was widely described as a landmark: the world’s first comprehensive framework for regulating AI. Throughout the policy-making process from early 2018 onwards, much of the debates focused on how the Act regulates – its risk categories and […]

Alina Felder-Stindt The European Union’s ambition to become a knowledge-based economy has transformed the role of higher education institutions (HEIs). My new book, The Territorial Dimension of EU Knowledge Policies: Higher Education Institutions for Europe (Routledge, 2025), explores how universities are not only shaped by European integration but also actively shape it, particularly through their […]

By Nicola Nones (Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto) and Melle Scholten (Department of Public Administration at the University of Twente) The Eurozone crisis and the subsequent implementation of austerity measures in various member states of the union was in many ways a watershed moment for contemporary populism. […]

By Monika Brusenbauch Meislová (Masaryk University, Czech Republic), Julie Smith (Cambridge University, UK) and Ed Turner (Aston University, UK) As we discuss in our recent article in the Journal of Common Market Studies, a proposed youth mobility scheme between the European Union and the United Kingdom ought to have been an easy win. After all, […]

By Thibaud Deruelle (European Society for Medical Oncology), Sandra Lavenex and Matis Poussardin (both University of Geneva, Switzerland) When we think of how the European Union (EU) extends its influence beyond its borders, we often picture trade deals or enlargement negotiations. Yet, another quieter—but no less significant—form of cooperation is unfolding through EU agencies. Working […]

By Marylou Hamm (Science Po, France / European University Institute, Italy) From the Greek debt crisis and the 2015 migration crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the European Union has faced overlapping emergencies over the past fifteen years. These crises have tested not only financial actors and member states, but also […]

Almost a decade of negotiations on the European Pact on Migration and Asylum came to an end in May 2024. Statements such as “it is perhaps one of the most important decisions in this legislative period, and it is certainly one of the most difficult for many” and “Today is a truly historic day, as […]

On 30 September 2025, Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union will present new climate targets for 2035 and 2040 at COP30 next year. As Europe prepares for COP30 in Belem, these goals are meant to reinforce Europe’s global leadership on climate action. This statement shows that the EU is preparing to move from […]

Citizens’ participation is often framed as a conditio sine qua non for healthy democracies. It serves as a primary system of checks and balances, represents one of the most central and meaningful ways for citizens to contribute to collective decision-making, and is argued to be the main mechanism through which citizens learn, discuss and form […]