by Matthew Teasdale This blog was completed for the UCD Politics module: Introduction to EU Politics. Nord Stream 2 (NS2) began laying down its pipes on September 5th, 2018 and ever since has been flooded in controversy. Headlines recently have been jumping back and forth from last-minute French bargaining, to a shaky EU compromise, andContinue reading “Nord Stream 2: A Step Forward for Growth, a Step Backward for Unity”
Author Archives: JamesPCross
The EU Migration Crisis and Operation Sophia: Shared Burden of Asylum Seekers is Needed
by Sydney Walters Although the European migration crisis, which heightened in 2015 after the Syrian conflict, has relatively steadied, the debate over migration and member-state obligations towards migration continues. Despite the fact that the numbers of migrants entering Europe from the Mediterranean has dramatically decreased since 2015, the number of migrant deaths in the MediterraneanContinue reading “The EU Migration Crisis and Operation Sophia: Shared Burden of Asylum Seekers is Needed”
What is hindering Kosovo’s goal of European Integration?
by Katrina Yoder Kosovo, a young state with just over a million citizens, has been hoping to move into the arms of the European Union since its birth in February 2008. However, with a weak economy, internal political fragmentation, opposition from Serbia, and five member states of the EU body who do not recognise its independentContinue reading “What is hindering Kosovo’s goal of European Integration?”
With one voice, or none at all? How divisions are impacting EU reforms, and its future
By Marc Planas The Future is Europe, reads a mural in La Rue de la Loi, in Brussels. A future, Europe certainly has one, but of what kind? Although the European Union has resisted the many threats of the past, the horizon seems far from idyllic. From an uncertain Brexit, the rise of national-populism, toContinue reading “With one voice, or none at all? How divisions are impacting EU reforms, and its future”
Exit Stage Left? What Scope for Progressive Politics against the EU?
Review essay: Costas Lapavitsas (2019) The Left Case Against the EU, Cambridge, UK and Medford, Ma: Polity Press. By Dr Andy Storey “The EU is not a nation state over whose mechanics the Left could give battle… It is a transnational juggernaut geared to neoliberal and hierarchical motion.”[1] This claim, made near the end ofContinue reading “Exit Stage Left? What Scope for Progressive Politics against the EU?”
Why have EU trilogues become so contentious?
By Ruairi Doyle ‘Trilogue’ is the name given to informal meetings which take place between representatives of the Parliament, Commission, and Council. The aim of these meetings, as defined in Lelieveldt and Princen’s The Politics of the European Union, is“to identify points of agreement and differences, and find a compromise on a legislative text” (LelieveldtContinue reading “Why have EU trilogues become so contentious?”
The EU tackling Climate Change
By Genevieve O’Keeffe Climate change is the most dangerous issue the world is facing and everyone will be affected unless extreme policy changes are made. As it is an issue that will directly or indirectly face all nations, it makes sense that a supranational organization such as the European Union takes an active role inContinue reading “The EU tackling Climate Change”
The Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base: the end of exclusive taxation competency?
By Joshua Kieran-Glennon The Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) is an EU policy aimed at harmonising the collection of corporation tax in all Member States. It targets low tax jurisdictions like Ireland, and seeks to prevent multinational corporations from allocating their profits to offices or subsidiaries located in those jurisdictions, taxing them instead atContinue reading “The Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base: the end of exclusive taxation competency?”
The development of EU counter-terrorism policy as a result of critical junctures: has it created a volatile long-term policy lacking effectiveness?
by Hannah Daly The terror attacks on mainland Europe over the last few years have brought closer attention and criticism to the EU’s current policy on counter-terrorism. The inconclusive policy lacks coherence due to the fact that it is sprawled out amongst a variety of different policy areas with multiple action plans and strategies drawnContinue reading “The development of EU counter-terrorism policy as a result of critical junctures: has it created a volatile long-term policy lacking effectiveness?”
Ireland and Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in EU Security and Defence
Over the last year Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, has been working with member states on a package of measures designed to deepen EU cooperation in security and defence. This has come in response to a number of developments: the threat of state-sponsored hybrid warfare and the undermining of democratic processes,Continue reading “Ireland and Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in EU Security and Defence”
The Brussels Insider 