This was the situation in Europe when the financial crisis knocked at its door for the first time at the end of 2008, followed by the outburst of the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone in 2011, a general economic decline and a disturbing increase of unemployment, especially youth unemployment in the peripheral countries of the eurozone. Since then the European Union has been staggering like a punch-drunk boxer just before the knock-out. Is the great European project down for the count? Does anybody care? Does anybody understand why they should care? Citizens (at least some of them) have turned into recalcitrant ‘indignados’ or vote against their national political establishment and against the EU’s austerity measures, as recently in Italy, with serious consequences for the rest of Europe, or they vote with their feet, as many thousands of Portuguese have done during the last years who have tried to find a new future in former Portuguese colonies as they do no longer see a future for themselves at home. These are tragic developments for Europe.
In 2014 European citizens can elect their representatives for the European Parliament for the 8th time in history. The year 2014 will be a historic year for Europe as it marks the beginning of the First World War 100 years ago, the ending of the Second World War 65 years ago, the beginning of the peaceful revolution in Eastern Europe 25 years ago and the ‘Eastern enlargement’ of the EU ten years ago. Will it become the year of a new beginning for Europe or will it go down in European history as the year that marks the beginning of the dismantling of the European project?
Romanians - From Europhiles to Reluctant Europeans (Claudiu Craciun)
Germany’s European Challenges after the Elections (Daniela Schwarzer)
Are We on the Way to Creating a European Behemoth? A Portuguese Perspective ( Viriato Soromenho-Marques)
It is Time for Germany to Deliver on its Commitments (Nikos Chrysoloras)
The Souring of Turkey-EU-Relations: is there a Way Out? (Senem Aydın-Düzgit)
The Netherlands in the EU: From the Centre to the Margins? (Adriaan Schout and Jan Marinus Wiersma)
From Federalism to Euroscepticism – the Finnish Debate on Europe (An Interview with MEP Tanja Cronenberg)
The EU Crisis Seen through the Lenses of the Italian Transition (Teresa Pullano)
Perceptions of the European Union in Serbia (Aleksandra Čavoški)
Bosnia-Herzegovina and the European Union: Strong European Identity in Spite of Scepticism (Lejla Turčilo)
How long will the UK Remain in the EU? (Fraser Cameron)
Future of Spain, Future of Europe: A Dream or a Nightmare? (Ignacio Molina & İlke Toygür)
Pressing Juice out of the Brussels Cabbage Poland and the European Union (Adam Ostolski)
Europe – the Final Countdown or Resurrection Time? Reclaiming the European Project (Pierre Jonckheer)
The European Integration Project – As Seen in the United Kingdom (Alex Warleigh-Lack)
Sliding to the periphery – Italy, the crisis and Europe (Mario Pianta)
Baltic Calculations or what Determines the Profoundness of the European Project in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Veiko Spolitis
Ireland and the Big Game Changer (Paul Gillespie)
Europe in Crisis (Tanja Dückers)
The EU’s Existential Crisis (Lennart von Schwichow)
Greece’s Economic Despair Gives Rise to anti-European Sentiment (Nikos Chrysoloras)
Europe: a Monster with Ice-Cold Breath? On Hope and Loathing in Belgium (Hilde Keteleer)
The French Debate on Europe (Marc-Olivier Padis)
Europe is here, and it’s not Going Anywhere (a Mosaic) (Radka Denemarková)
Address on the Occasion of the Award of an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Athens (Faculty of Law) (Daniel Cohn-Bendit)
Europe’s Place in the World (Claus Leggewie)