Articles

The election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is a significant victory for liberal democracy in the US and for a policy of compassion and cooperation. At the same time, the new government is facing a political pile of rubble full of enormous challenges.

The events at the Heinrich Böll Foundation are open to the general public. Their purpose is to promote the political education of citizens.

The European Commission believed that the CAP reform was potentially compatible with the EU Green Deal. As things turn out, in practice, it is not.

Since the 2017 federal elections, Alliance 90/The Greens (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) have increased the number of their governmental participations in the Länder on a high level. In Hesse, Bremen, Thuringia and Hamburg they were able to continue four coalitions in identical or slightly adjusted constellations.

Questions of environmental and climate policy remain relevant even during a pandemic, as the protests and debates about the stimulus package to fight the crisis show.  The German states have taken on a deciding roll regarding questions of implementation – which started already during the negotiations for the climate package. The Greens contributed the most to the climate package's increased substance. 

The EU Common Market Organisation (CMO) and its import/export licences are intertwined with trade power concentration in multinational exporters, EU supermarket price pressure on banana producers, and the impact on labour rights in Central America. Deeper impact assessments should be made in Central America countries before signing Association Agreements with the EU.

“The hell of women is in full swing” is one of the most pertinent comments on the decision of the government-controlled Polish Constitutional Court to further restrict the anyway very limited public access of women to abortions in Poland. Although the measure had been part of the public discourse for years, the timing for its implementation comes partly as a surprise. What does this tell us about the further prospects for the rule of the Law and Justice party?

In contrast to many declarations that Italy should not be left to face the challenges of mass boat arrivals from North Africa alone, the New Pact's proposals if anything renew the obsolete “Dublin system”.

Despite its tough public rhetoric, the Polish government might turn out to be more flexible behind closed doors regarding the New Pact, to prevent embarrassing defeats on issues that are far more important from a domestic policy point of view, such as the rule of law.