The United Arab Emirates has become a major investor in the Western Balkans. With enlargement back on the agenda, the EU must ensure that foreign capital meets rather than undermines its governance standards.
This analysis argues that democracy should feature more prominently in the Global Europe pillar of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), both in terms of objectives and of instruments. It then locates democracy among the European Union’s external strategic objectives, arguing for a more central role as democratic governance has the potential to contribute to other policy objectives such as security and economic development.
A new report commissioned by the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), and supported by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung's EU | Global Dialogue and Washington, DC USA | Canada | Global Dialogue offices, highlights mounting concerns that international trade agreements are creating barriers to consumers’ right to repair the products they own. As everyday devices from smartphones to tractors become ever more reliant on software, restrictive clauses in free trade agreements are making it harder for consumers and independent repairers to access the tools and information they need for effective repairs.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) is now in force, but climate disinformation is not explicitly recognised as a “systemic risk”. With this regulatory gap in mind, we set out to examine how platform responses to climate disinformation evolved or failed to evolve between 2023 and 2025, and what their policies look like in practice.
Northern EU accession is becoming a political possibility that requires attention. Bundling enlargement could help build momentum. A carefully sequenced enlargement round that includes both Nordic and southeastern and eastern candidates could reinvigorate a fatigued debate. However, the EU needs to be careful to only incentivise, rather than push, EU accession.
A majority of citizens in Germany have a positive view of the new federal government‘s pledge for a stronger leadership role in the EU, but clearly advocate for doing so in a cooperative manner. These findings come from the latest edition of our long-term study 'Actually European!?' on Germany’s role in the EU.
