Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Alina Rzepnikowska Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
Attacks on Polish families living in the UK are strongly influenced by negative portrayals in the media, argues Alina Rzepnikowska. Polish families in Belfast have suffered a series of attacks in recent week. A row of three Polish families’ homes was spray painted with messages telling the families to leave the city. Elsewhere in Belfast, […]
By Georgios Papanagnou Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
A series of reforms that started roughly around the late 1970s have transformed the European Parliament from an ineffective institution to an assembly with significant powers, writes Dr Georgios Papanagnou. But he argues that there is much still to be done – and this should be an urgent priority for the European political class. There […]
By Dimitris Papadimitriou Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
David Cameron’s negative approach of demanding a renegotiation of the UK’s EU membership terms and putting this to a referendum is a cloud hanging over this week’s European elections, warns Professor Dimitris Papadimitriou. This is a strategy that could backfire spectacularly. This week’s elections to the European Parliament are overshadowed in Britain by the rise of UKIP and […]
By Stefania Marino and Miguel Martínez Lucio Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
A recent lecture at the University of Manchester painted a picture of trade union decline across Western Europe. Dr Stefania Marino and Prof Miguel Martinez Lucio reflect on a difficult period for the unions, but argue they are still important players, economically and politically. The power of trade unions across Western Europe has declined – but nowhere else […]
By Dimitris Papadimitriou and Sotirios Zartaloudis Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
Analysis of Greece’s financial meltdown has tended to focus on the deficiencies of the Economic and Monetary Union, but the crisis was also the result of failures by the Eurozone’s leadership in terms of co-ordination and communication, explain Prof Dimitris Papadimitriou and Dr Sotirios Zartaloudis. And they argue the results of this European failure of […]
By Mustafa Cirakli Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
Ahead of the EU elections, Liberal candidate for the European Commission Presidency, Guy Verhofstadt, came to Manchester to outline his credentials. Mustafa Cirakli reports that Verhofstadt’s message was clear: we need more Europe. National media across the EU have focused on the rise of Eurosceptics such as UKIP in the UK and France’s National Front. But […]
By Christian Goeschel Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
Italy is one of Europe’s great nations, and Mussolini’s rise to power helped shape the first half of the twentieth century. So the significance of Italy’s contemporary political scene should not be overlooked, explains Dr Christian Goeschel. Italy is often ignored today as a serious political force. It is seen as part of the Eurozone’s […]
By Ewan Munro Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
Former Greek Prime Minster George Papandreou delivered the Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence’s Annual Lecture, accompanied by two formidable looking bodyguards. Ewan Munro heard him affirm his commitment to the European Project and decry the lack of visionary leadership at the national level. While the Eurozone crisis may have slipped from the front pages […]
By Gabriel Siles-Brügge and Ferdi De Ville Filed Under: Europe Posted:
Although negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US were launched with bombastic rhetoric, the last couple of weeks have seen confidence wane, write Ferdi De Ville and Gabriel Siles-Brügge. They argue that negotiations will take longer and the economic benefits of a deal will be far smaller […]
By Ferdi De Ville and Gabriel Siles-Brügge Filed Under: Europe, Featured Posted:
On Monday the latest round of talks on the EU-US free trade agreement get underway. Gabriel Siles-Brügge and Ferdi De Ville challenge the proclaimed benefits of this much-vaunted deal. Rather than represent ‘the cheapest stimulus package you can imagine’, they argue the deal is a distraction that is unlikely to significantly boost growth. ‘This is […]