Ukraine, Europe, and the power of association: A new way to help aspiring EU states
A new compact could allow Ukraine, Balkans states and others to move closer to the EU and drive reform more powerfully than the current rigid rules
European Power
Europe’s soft-power problem
Although Europe has begun to make up for years of neglect in terms of defence spending, it remains woefully ill-equipped to win over other countries through the power of attraction and persuasion. Each side in the European culture war is uniquely unappealing to billions of people around the world.
Efficient influence: Energy initiatives for a geopolitical Europe
Initiatives to improve energy efficiency can reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels. They can also help increase the union’s influence in the global south.
Burn time: The case for a new European energy union
Almost all EU member states are exposed to the fallout for the energy market of Western sanctions on Russia. To protect their energy security and support the green transition, they should form a new energy union.
Necessary friends: Turkey’s improving relationship with the West
Russia’s war on Ukraine has allowed Turkey to begin to rebuild its relationship with the West. Brussels and Ankara both need to make sacrifices to continue this process and protect their strategic interests.
11 Apr
Crisi energetica. La Geopolitica del Green Deal. Sovranità energetica europea, conflitto in Ucraina e competizione tra Grandi Potenze
Il conflitto in Ucraina ha confermato l’urgenza di un’azione congiunta europea su energia e clima
Why Ukraine has won the right to join NATO
The new European security order should be based on Ukraine’s security, not Russia’s. This will require Ukraine to join NATO and the EU.
Armed for innovation: How to drive German-Italian defence industrial cooperation
Defence industrial cooperation between Italy and Germany could boost the EU’s geopolitical credibility and capacity for technological innovation. There is no strategic autonomy without a strong defence industry.
6 Apr
Invasione russa dell’Ucraina: Ruolo dell’UE nel contesto regionale e globale
Gli europei richiedono maggiore cooperazione a lungo termine su diversi dossier, in particolare in materia di sicurezza e difesa
The true value of European sovereignty
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has underlined the importance of European sovereignty. The EU should now invest boldly in its military capabilities, cyber-defences, energy independence, and economic resilience.
Articles
Ukraine, Europe, and the power of association: A new way to help aspiring EU states
A new compact could allow Ukraine, Balkans states and others to move closer to the EU and drive reform more powerfully than the current rigid rules
Europe’s soft-power problem
Although Europe has begun to make up for years of neglect in terms of defence spending, it remains woefully ill-equipped to win over other countries through the power of attraction and persuasion. Each side in the European culture war is uniquely unappealing to billions of people around the world.
Efficient influence: Energy initiatives for a geopolitical Europe
Initiatives to improve energy efficiency can reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels. They can also help increase the union’s influence in the global south.
Burn time: The case for a new European energy union
Almost all EU member states are exposed to the fallout for the energy market of Western sanctions on Russia. To protect their energy security and support the green transition, they should form a new energy union.
Necessary friends: Turkey’s improving relationship with the West
Russia’s war on Ukraine has allowed Turkey to begin to rebuild its relationship with the West. Brussels and Ankara both need to make sacrifices to continue this process and protect their strategic interests.
Why Ukraine has won the right to join NATO
The new European security order should be based on Ukraine’s security, not Russia’s. This will require Ukraine to join NATO and the EU.
Armed for innovation: How to drive German-Italian defence industrial cooperation
Defence industrial cooperation between Italy and Germany could boost the EU’s geopolitical credibility and capacity for technological innovation. There is no strategic autonomy without a strong defence industry.
The true value of European sovereignty
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has underlined the importance of European sovereignty. The EU should now invest boldly in its military capabilities, cyber-defences, energy independence, and economic resilience.
Out of the dark: Reinventing European defence cooperation
Russia’s all-out war on Ukraine has convinced many European states to rebuild their militaries. In doing so, they should initially focus on readiness, capability gaps, and joint equipment procurement and research.
Southern discomfort: The West’s competition with China in the Balkans
The West has only recently started to develop a coordinated strategy to compete with China in the Balkans. This contest has now begun in earnest.
Podcasts
War in Ukraine: a stale-mate for the West and NATO’s future?
How should Europe react to Russian loss or indeed victory in this war? And what are the possible ramifications for the West?
Conquering the cyber sphere: How the EU can build digital sovereignty
Europe’s digital transformation and sovereignty has become a question of existential importance. But what does it actually mean to be digital sovereign? Host Mark Leonard…
Why Europe cannot become a giant Switzerland – geopolitical challenges in times of covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the EU’s conception of order and exposed a gap between European aspirations and actions. Firstly, Europeans are confronted with the…
From fragility to vitality – Analysing von der Leyen’s #SOTEU
Ursula von der Leyen’s first State of the European Union speech was as long as it was broad in topics and calls for action. Host…
Trump’s dirty tricks
Although US President Donald Trump’s efforts to undermine the election are shameless, they are still more subtle than the outright election rigging that one finds…
Surveillance and the inevitable AI future
In this week’s episode, we feature one of the focus sessions from our Annual Council Meeting this June. Policy Fellow Ulrike Franke moderated this online…
If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready: Rethinking global health security
“Defending the WHO is necessary but not sufficient to address the weaknesses that the corvid-19 crisis has revealed. Fundamentally, those weaknesses revolve around the interplay…
Where there’s a will, there’s a way: France, Germany and EU coalition building
In this week’s episode, Mark Leonard presents the new and third edition of ECFR´s Coalition explorer, which also included special questions regarding the impact of…
The Biden effect and the future of US-Europe relations | Part II
After last week’s discussion with Matt Duss and Jeremy Shapiro, Mark Leonard follows up by gathering the European views on a possible Biden win and…
The Biden effect and the future of US-Europe relations | Part I
The United States presidential election is approaching and there is no doubt that its result will have a significant and large-scale impact on global politics
Events
11 Apr
Crisi energetica. La Geopolitica del Green Deal. Sovranità energetica europea, conflitto in Ucraina e competizione tra Grandi Potenze
Il conflitto in Ucraina ha confermato l’urgenza di un’azione congiunta europea su energia e clima
6 Apr
Invasione russa dell’Ucraina: Ruolo dell’UE nel contesto regionale e globale
Gli europei richiedono maggiore cooperazione a lungo termine su diversi dossier, in particolare in materia di sicurezza e difesa
20 Jan
Health security and geopolitical competition: For a more strategic view
The pandemic has transformed public health into an arena of geopolitical competition; at the same time, pandemics like covid-19 are a global challenge requiring international cooperation
17 Dec
Europe’s answer to economic warfare: The EU’s anti-coercion instrument and building sovereignty in a networked world
Join ECFR in this two-part event on the EU’s potentially game-changing geopolitical instrument against economic blackmail from great powers, and the principles that should guide Europe’s quest for economic sovereignty
24 Nov
Digital Challenges in the Great Powers Competition: what geopolitical role for the EU?
Technology is increasingly emerging as a source of geopolitical challenges, but also of geopolitical opportunities. In this framework, the EU has a unique chance to become a trend setter.
5 Jul
Between strategic autonomy and multilateralism: a more resilient future for the EU
The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and ECFR Rome Office aim at fostering a debate on strategic autonomy and how it intertwines with the promotion of multilateralism
21 Apr
Europe’s green moment: How to meet the climate challenge
How can decision-makers mobilise creative coalitions and integrate the European Green Deal into EU foreign policy to deliver on the deal?
19 Feb
Crisi del potere americano? Come gli europei vedono l’America di Biden
Nonostante a novembre gli europei abbiano festeggiato la vittoria di Joe Biden, la maggior parte rimane scettica sulla possibilità di assistere ad una ripresa globale della potenza statunitense
14 Dec
A breaking point? What’s in store for Europe after the summit
Online debate by ECFR Warsaw and ideaForum of the Batory Foundation
14 Dec
Moment krytyczny? Co czeka Europę po szczycie budżetowym
Debata online forumIdei Fundacji Batorego i ECFR Warszawa…
In the media
Managing foreign disinformation remains a major issue for the EU. Much remains to be done in this concern, as the Russian case demonstrates.
Teresa Coratella comments on European defence mechanisms deployed in the fight against disinformation
As far as defence integration is concerned, Eastern European countries trust Washington and NATO much more than Brussels and the other main European governments
Arturo Varvelli comments on the reluctance of Eastern European countries to delegate their security to the EU
As a representative of EU countries, Michel seems to make up for Germany’s lack of leadership on the Ukrainian issue
Arturo Varvelli comments on the importance of Charles Michel’s visit to Kiev in terms of European support for Ukraine
Should she win, Le Pen will have the difficult role of positioning herself ex novo within the EU and making the ultimate choice between Brussels on one side or Moscow and Budapest on the other
Teresa Coratella analyses the impact that either Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen’s victory would have on Europe, and the opportunity that both these outcomes would open for Italy
Marine Le Pen feels strengthened by the victories of Orban and Vucic. Her victory would lead to an alliance between illiberal democracies and a push against sanctions on Russia.
Tara Varma comments on the possible consequences of Marine Le Pen’s victory in the French presidential election