As part of the ’Reinventing Europe' project, ECFR is publishing a series of papers on the national debates within EU member states over the crisis and the future direction of Europe. In the seventh paper of the series George Pagoulatos looks at the country at the epicentre of the euro crisis.

Twenty years after the European single market was created, the euro crisis is posing a threat to one of the main achievements of European integration - the single market. Even the latest round of proposed improvements that the European Commission has announced will not be sufficient to mitigate this threat.

As a British EU referendum looks increasingly likely, YouGov has conducted fresh research for ECFR into the roots of British attitudes to Europe. Peter Kellner (President of YouGov) argues that the attitudes of three distinctive groups will determine the outcome of a British referendum on Europe.

Relations between China and North Korea are changing. China no longer perceives North Korea as a buffer state and North Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un has been pursuing a more assertive approach towards China. But China is not giving up on the regime and Chinese thinkers are suggesting a series of Chinese-style reforms for the regime in Pyongyang. But is it in North Korea's interest to follow China's advice on reform and opening up?

Syria has dominated UN diplomacy for the last year, as China and Russia have blocked meaningful action against Damascus at the Security Council. While the Council has performed solidly on other matters – such as averting a war between Sudan and South Sudan – the Syrian mess has damaged its credibility.

After more than a year of conflict in Syria, neighboring Lebanon is increasingly vulnerable. The civil war in Syria is amplifying Lebanese divisions, fuelling militancy and pushing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stir up regional instability. Most significantly, the Syria conflict is shifting the Lebanese balance of power, opening up new possibilities for those intent on weakening Hezbollah, the country’s dominant political and military force.

As part of the ’Reinventing Europe' project, ECFR is publishing a series of papers on the national debates within EU member states over the crisis and the future direction of Europe. In the sixth of the series Ulrike Guérot analyses the situation in Germany and explains how Germany perceives the euro crisis and why the notion of 'political union' is an important concept in this context.

Next July Croatia will become the 28th EU member, but as Europe struggles to deal with the euro crisis, has any further enlargement into the Western Balkans frozen to a halt? Although the temptation for the EU is to adopt a ‘wait and see’ strategy, the stability of the status quo may prove deceptive.