European Power

Europe flunks the solar panel test

The debate over whether Chinese solar panels benefit from unfair subsidies is damaging to the EU and its negotiating position. Thanks to changes in the energy market it is the wrong test case for Europe as it deals with Beijing. 

UK Independence Party renews culture wars

UKIP is just a small part of a broader phenomenon spreading across the developed world that resembles a political backlash against globalization and interdependence. But how should mainstream parties respond?  

Think again: European decline

Although it may seem that Europe is down and out as it struggles with multiple crises, things are in fact far, far better than they appear on the surface.   

The remarkable rise of continental Euroscepticism

A new ECFR analysis shows that trust in the EU has plummeted across the continent. Both southern debtors and northern creditors feel like they are victims.  

Revolt of the technocrats

Does the launch of a new Eurosceptic party in Germany suggest there is fertile ground for a real alternative ahead of elections later this year, despite Merkel's refusal to countenance change?  

Do we need a European Margaret Thatcher?

British public opinion is polarised over the legacy of Margaret Thatcher. But whether she was right or wrong she recognised the need for fundamental change in Britain in the 1970s – and that is something that Europe could learn from now.  

For a European Republic

Whether political leaders or citizens, the pragmatics have failed to build a prosperous and wholly democratic EU. The system we live in neither provides for nor admits any legitimate representation for the citizens of Europe. Now it’s the turn of the dreamers. Today, they are the true realists.  

Europe’s misgovernment

The Cypriot crisis has made it brutally clear just how bad misgovernment with the EU – and the eurozone – really is. The only way to fix this is for genuine banking, fiscal, and economic union within the eurozone, backed by legitimate political instruments.  

Bulgaria’s anger, the real source

An escalating crisis in Bulgaria marked by street-protests across the country forced the government's resignation. But the instant wisdom that financial austerity caused it is misleading.