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Note from Berlin
The slow death of ambition: German foreign policy after Kramp-Karrenbauer's resignation
Jana Puglierin - 13 February, 2020
The grand coalition will continue to be a kind of caretaker government in its lack of a big foreign policy vision.
Final call: Macron goes to Poland
Pawel Zerka - 30 January, 2020
Emmanuel Macron should not shrink from addressing Poland’s democratic backsliding when he visits next week – and other EU leaders should quickly follow his lead.
Spain’s new culture war
José Ignacio Torreblanca - 7 January, 2020
The inauguration of the most fragmented parliament since 1978 will usher in a period of culture war centring on national identity.
Views from the Council
How grassroots democracy can cure the ills of central Europe
Zdeněk Hřib, Gergely Karácsony, Rafał Trzaskowski, Matúš Vallo - 16 December, 2019
A new “Pact of Free Cities” is launching to combat populism, promote transparency, and tackle the climate crisis.
Note from Berlin
After the Berlin wall: How Germany became a greater Switzerland
Josef Janning - 8 November, 2019
Berlin has turned punching below one’s weight into an art form. This is not good enough, either for Germany or for Europe.
Note from Berlin
Germany at the helm: Can it bring Europe together in 2020?
André Hein - 15 October, 2019
The German presidency offers the chance to build on strong levels of structural cohesion between member states – but citizens remain sceptical on some fronts.
Denmark’s shift towards an ever greener union
Jakob Dreyer and Christine Nissen - 29 July, 2019
With a domestic debate on the EU looming, the Danish government appears likely to strike a new agreement on its Europe policy.
Note from Berlin
Spitzenkandidaten poker
Josef Janning - 3 July, 2019
For most voters, the battle over people and positions would be revealing if only it wasn’t so confusing. It is misleading to frame the nomination process as an example of backroom politics prevailing over parliamentary democracy.
Policy Brief
Untapped potential: How new alliances can strengthen the EU
Josef Janning, Almut Möller - 21 June, 2019
Fragmentation in the EU makes it increasingly difficult for member states to build coalitions. The EU Coalition Explorer reveals potential new groupings.
Note from Berlin
Germany and the crisis of Atlanticism
Josef Janning - 11 June, 2019
With the US opting out of its traditional European role, the "German question" has returned. And European leaders will need to make sacrifices if they are to address it.
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Policy Brief
The big engine that might: How France and Germany can build a geopolitical Europe
Jana Puglierin, Ulrike Esther Franke - 14 July, 2020
The EU Coalition Explorer survey reveals the importance of Germany and France within the EU, and the impact they can have when they cooperate with each other.
Policy Brief
In sickness and in health: European cooperation during the coronavirus crisis
Pawel Zerka - 8 July, 2020
ECFR research into how EU member states and institutions worked together at the height of covid-19 confirms Germany was the bloc’s undisputed crisis leader
Policy Brief
Untapped potential: How new alliances can strengthen the EU
Josef Janning, Almut Möller - 21 June, 2019
Fragmentation in the EU makes it increasingly difficult for member states to build coalitions. The EU Coalition Explorer reveals potential new groupings.
![Pic: By Ilovetheeu (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/London_Brexit_pro-EU_protest_March_25_2017_25.jpg - CC by SA 2.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/](
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Policy Brief
Crisis and Cohesion in the European Union: A Ten-Year Review
Josef Janning - 5 February, 2018
Despite financial and refugee crises, research suggests the European Union is getting stronger, not weaker.
Policy Brief
Exploring EU Coalitions
Christoph Klavehn, Josef Janning, Christel Zunneberg - 16 October, 2017
New essay collection points way to potential coalitions for flexible European cooperation
The invisible web – from interaction to coalition-building in the EU
Josef Janning & Christel Zunneberg - 22 May, 2017
Survey of experts in 28 capitals illuminates the complex network of relationships among EU member states.
Policy Brief
Keeping Europeans together
Josef Janning (editor) - 20 September, 2016
This volume reflects the diversity of European cohesion. It provides the national context and personal assessments from 28 EU member states.
Making sense of Europe’s cohesion challenge
Josef Janning - 11 May, 2016
A new study from ECFR shows that, perhaps surprisingly, between 2007 and 2014, cohesion among EU member states has improved, even after years of crises.
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Beware of mission-accomplished syndrome: Germany and European defence
Ulrike Esther Franke - 10 August, 2020
It is ill-advised for Germany to be complacent on common European defence – especially at a moment when the country holds the presidency of the Council of the EU.
Why Europe needs a recovery plan for strategic autonomy
Jana Puglierin, Ulrike Esther Franke - 3 August, 2020
Just as they have on the economic recovery, Berlin and Paris must overcome their differences and present a courageous plan to create a Europe that takes decisive geopolitical action.
View from the Council
The limits of “no, no, no”: Why the Dutch are so ambivalent about Europe
Caroline de Gruyter - 3 August, 2020
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is stuck between European partners urging him to engage in Europe at this critical moment and a growing chorus at home threatening to punish him if he does so.
China, Europe, and covid-19 headwinds
Janka Oertel - 20 July, 2020
China’s attempts to divide Europeans during the crisis, along with its fierce and openly hostile rhetoric targeting the capacity of Western democracy to effectively respond to the health emergency, have served as a wake-up call.
Instrumental solidarity: Hungary’s management of the coronavirus crisis
Zsuzsanna Végh - 1 July, 2020
The Orbán government’s demonstrations of European solidarity have been partly motivated by its nationalist goals and its concerns about migration.
The truth about European solidarity during corona
Rafael Loss, Jana Puglierin - 26 June, 2020
National impulses led to border closures and export restrictions on medical supplies during the corona crisis. But even in the earliest days of Europe’s exposure to the novel virus, pan-European solidarity was on display.
Crisis communication: Italy, the coronavirus, and European solidarity
Teresa Coratella - 16 June, 2020
Italy has been among the top beneficiaries of pan-European support from citizens, institutions, and governments – as ECFR’s new European Solidarity Tracker shows.
European Solidarity Tracker: The solidarity that always was there
Claire Busse, Rafael Loss - 10 June, 2020
ECFR’s new tracker reveals the breadth and depth of solidarity expressed throughout Europe during the coronavirus crisis – with findings that will surprise critics.
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.
Bookshelf:
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“Forget Hamilton. This Is Europe’s Calonne Moment.” by Trevor Jackson in Foreign Policy
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“Russisches Roulette: Vom Kalten Krieg zum Kalten Frieden” by Horst Teltschik
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“Germany and the European Union: Europe's Reluctant Hegemon?” by Simon Bulmer, William E. Paterson
You better bring a book – the start of the EU’s lengthy budget talks
Negotiations over the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021 – 2027 just have started. But as tensions and divergences between the EU member states are rising, a final agreement seems considerably far away for now. The European Union is subject to a series of unprecedented constraints, the most significant one being the UK’s departure and the withdrawal of the money it once granted. Still, the implications of the budget allocation are manifold and extremely far-reaching. It will affect major themes which stand at the very basis of the Union and its future role on the global stage, such as national sovereignty, climate and innovation. Our Director Mark Leonard is joined by ECFR co-chair and director of the Danish think tank EUROPA Lykke Friis, as well as ECFR experts Jonathan Hackenbroich and Pawel Zerka to dissect the ongoing status of the discussions.
This podcast was recorded on 25 February 2020.
Inspired by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, here are some recommendations by our podcast crew on what to read during the long hours of MFF negotiations:
Bookshelf:
- "Den nya oredans tid" by Carl Bildt
- "The three escapes by Hannah Arendt" by Ken Krimstein
- "The books of Jacob" by Olga Tokarczuk
- "Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System" by Barry Eichengreen
- "Håbets Europa" by Lykke Friis
- "En kuffert i Berlin: Rejse i Angela Merkels Tyskland" by Lykke Friis
Midterm elections: Will US foreign policy change?
Mark Leonard speaks with Craig Kennedy, Jeremy Shapiro and Anna Kuchenbecker about the election results and Donald Trump's tenure. The podcast was recorded on 8th November 2018.
Bookshelf:
The Great Delusion by John J. Mearsheimer
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Lords of the Desert by James Barr
The Coming of Democracy by Mark R. Cheathem
A world without Angela Merkel
What does Angela Merkel’s decision to stand down as leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) mean for Germany and Europe? Mark Leonard discusses with Josef Janning and Susi Dennison the political implications, and expectations for party leadership: Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Friedrich Merz, Jens Spahn.
The podcast was recorded on 31 October 2018.
Bookshelf
ECFR’s EU Coalition Explorer
Counter-Revolution - Liberal Europe in Retreat by Jan Zielonka
Fauda, NetflixECFR Berlin: Kooperation und Konflikt in der EU
Eine Podiumsdiskussion mit
Anne-Marie Descôtes, Botschafterin der Französischen Republik in Deutschland
Michael Roth, Staatsminister für Europa, Auswärtiges Amt
Moderation: Lykke Friis, Korrespondentin Berlingske, dänische Ministerin für Klima und Energie a.D.
Input: Josef Janning, Leiter ECFR Berlin und Senior Policy FellowMehr Informationen unter: https://www.ecfr.eu/eucoalitionexplorer
Close Contact? Coalition Building in the EU
ECFR’s EU28 Survey reveals the interactions, perceptions, and chemistry between the 28 EU member states. This week, Mark Leonard joins Josef Janning, Christoph Klavehn and Almut Möller to discuss findings of the expert poll that will be published in the “EU Coalition Explorer” on Thursday, 30 October 2018.
Bookshelf:
- EU Coalition Explorer (Stay tuned for the new edition on 30 October)
- Country analyses with data from the EU28 Survey by Josef Janning and Almut Möller
- Poems by Tomáš Kafka
- 1815 Waterloo by Thierry LentzThis podcast was recorded on 25 October.
German government crisis
Mark Leonard speaks with Josef Janning, Silvia Francescon, Piotr Buras and Manuel Lafont Rapnouil about the major rift between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her interior minister over migrant policy.
Bookshelf:
L'Ordre du jour by Eric Vuillard
The Miracle Of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
Utopia for Realists: And How We Can Get There by Rutger Bregman
The Mask it Wears by Pankaj Mishra
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