European Power

  • Cover: Solidarity and sovereignty: a “mission possible” for Germany’s EU Council Presidency?

    Solidarity and sovereignty: a “mission possible” for Germany’s EU Council Presidency?

    In his opening remarks at our virtual Annual Council Meeting, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, spoke about Germany’s Presidency of the Council of the EU and the high expectations which are placed on it. According to him, the next six months will be centred around two things: solidarity and sovereignty.

    In this week’s podcast, Mark Leonard is joined by our expert Jana Puglierin, head of the Berlin office to discuss the German EU Presidency in detail. What are the biggest challenges? Can Germany deliver on a greener, more social, and innovative recovery plan for the EU? Or are the expectations so high that they are set to fail?

    Watch the opening session of our Annual Council Meeting on Germany in Europe and the German EU Council Presidency here.

    Remarks from Heiko Maas, Foreign Minister of Germany, at ECFR's virtual Annual Council Meeting 2020.

    This podcast was recorded on 3 July 2020

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    Cover: Europe’s role in global health & how to build European health sovereignty

    Europe’s role in global health & how to build European health sovereignty

    “If it’s about Europe´s role in global health, a big part of it is Europe's health sovereignty which we want to make one of the big topics of the German EU Council Presidency”, Germany’s Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn said in our Virtual Annual Council Meeting.
    The coronavirus pandemic brought the issue of health sovereignty affront: how can health security be achieved across Europe? In this week’s podcast Mark Leonard is joined by our experts Tara Varma, head of the Paris office, policy fellows Anthony Dworkin and Jonathan Hackenbroich, to discuss the components of European health sovereignty and how it can be attained.

    Further reading: Health sovereignty: How to build a resilient European response to pandemics by Jonathan Hackenbroich, Jeremy Shapiro and Tara Varma

    Watch the session from our Annual Council Meeting featuring Jens Spahn and Mark Suzman here. 

    This podcast was recorded on 1 July 2020

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    Cover: The covid-19 rupture: what will it mean for Europeans’ security?

    The covid-19 rupture: what will it mean for Europeans' security?

    Even before the pandemic, Europeans had much to worry about: slow economies and polarised politics, rising global tensions and disorder, an unstable neighbourhood, and a heating planet. Covid-19's assault has only amplified such concerns, as well as exposing the fragility of much that Europeans have taken for granted about their lives; heightening the instinct to withdraw and protect; and raising the curtain on a major economic crisis. How will this rupture affect Europeans' understanding of their own security? Which threats and risks will they want their leaders to prioritise? And what responses should those leaders make?
    With

    • Nathalie Tocci, Director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali and ECFR Council Member. Tocci is Honorary Professor at the University of Tübingen and Special Advisor to EU High Representative and Vice President of the Commission Josep Borrell.
    • Nick Witney, ECFR Senior Policy Fellow
    • Chaired by Susi Dennison, ECFR European Power Programme Director

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    Cover: Europe’s pandemic politics: How the virus has changed the public’s worldview

    Europe’s pandemic politics: How the virus has changed the public’s worldview

    As covid-19 raged, speculation grew that the crisis would re- strengthen public support for the state; faith in experts; and both pro- and anti-Europeanism. But ECFR’s latest research reveals these all to be illusions. Instead, the crisis has revolutionised citizens’ perceptions of global order – scrambling the distinctions between nationalism and globalism. Host Mark Leonard is joined by Ivan Krastev, co-author of the new Unlock study and chair of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia as well as by ECFR co-chair Lykke Friis and Ismaël Emelien, co-founder of En Marche! and President Emmanuel Macron 's former special advisor for strategy, communication and speeches. Together they discuss the findings of ECFR’s Unlock project: how has the pandemic changed European politics and the Europeans’ view of the EU and the world?  

    Find the paper by Ivan Krastev & Mark Leonard here.  

    This podcast was recorded on 25 June 2020 

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    Cover: Europe’s way out of the coronavirus crisis: from self-interest to solidarity?

    Europe’s way out of the coronavirus crisis: from self-interest to solidarity?

    The coronavirus crisis brought about financial hardship for the European Union, and many agree that a recovery fund would be needed to overcome it. In the beginning, countries like Italy and Spain, in particular, felt left alone in dealing with this health, social and economic crisis. And still, support for financial burden-sharing is low in the “frugal” countries which would be the net contributors to such a recovery fund. But does this mean there is a general lack of solidarity in Europe? Can solidarity go in line with member states’ self-interest? In this week’s podcast Mark Leonard is joined by ECFR’s heads of offices Jana Puglierin (Berlin), Arturo Varvelli (Rome) and José Ignacio Torreblanca (Madrid) to discuss how solidarity is perceived across Europe and what ECFR’s Solidarity Tracker can teach us about pan-European solidarity during the covid-19 crisis.

    Find the European Solidarity Tracker here.

    This podcast was recorded on 17 June 2020.

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    Cover: Fighting racism together: anti-racism protests in the US and Europe

    Fighting racism together: anti-racism protests in the US and Europe

    The ongoing anti-racism demonstrations in the United States spurred by the brutal killing of George Floyd spread across the Atlantic. In many European countries, people are getting behind the cause and protesting racism and police violence against BIPOC. How are the demonstrations in France and Germany connected to the ones in the US? Is Europe also starting to confront racial injustice on its own soil? And what does it mean for the transatlantic relationship? In this week’s podcast Mark Leonard is joined by the head of our Paris office Tara Varma, Member of the German Bundestag and Council member Omid Nouripour, as well as Spencer Boyer, director of the Washington office of the Brennan Center for Justice to discuss the recent anti-racism protests and their impact on the transatlantic relations.

    This podcast was recorded on 10 June 2020.

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    Cover: How is covid-19 changing European economic sovereignty?

    How is covid-19 changing European economic sovereignty?

    What does the corona crisis mean for economic coercion? How does it amplify some of the problems stemming from punitive economic measures Europeans have worried about? Finally, how might the structural changes in our economies – from the increased role of the state to value chain reviews – change the nature of economic coercion? Who might benefit and what does it mean for European governments and companies?

    A virtual roundtable discussion by our European Power Programme on 29 May 2020 featuring
    Erica Moret, Senior Researcher at IHEID;
    Elizabeth Rosenberg, Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security;
    chaired by Jonathan Hackenbroich, ECFR Policy Fellow on Economic Statecraft.

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    Cover: The EU recovery plan – rather a “Merkron” than a “Hamiltonian” moment?

    The EU recovery plan – rather a “Merkron” than a “Hamiltonian” moment?

    The recent Franco-German proposal for an EU recovery fund sparked a lively debate on possible changes in EU’s nature, suggesting that the plan to raise €500bn through common EU debt and hand it out as grants, not loans, marks an important shift in EU policy. But is this really a “Hamiltonian” moment, as some labelled it? In this week’s podcast Mark Leonard welcomes Lykke Friis, ECFR co-chair and director of the Danish think tank EUROPA; ECFR Council Members Coen van Oostrom, Dutch-based founder and chief executive officer of EDGE Technologies and Jean Pisani-Ferry, Senior Fellow at Bruegel to discuss the ambitious Franco-German proposal and what it means for the future of Europe.

    This podcast was recorded on 26 May 2020.

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