C ommission President Juncker gave his most eye-catching State of the [European] Union” speech yet. In theory, he’s only a humble servant of the EU member states, delivering and defending the objectives of the…
B efore important French and German elections, all eyes will be on the Netherlands, which is about to re-elect its Lower House on 15 March. The Head of Open Europe’s Brussels office Pieter Cleppe…
by Pieter Cleppe
Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe writes for Dutch daily De Volkskrant that a proposal by Belgian Migration Secretary Theo Francken to make it mandatory for asylum seekers to apply for asylum in ‘hotspots’…
by Pieter Cleppe
Denmark will this week hold a referendum on whether to replace its full opt-out from EU justice and home affairs cooperation with a UK-style 'opt-in' model. Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe looks at…
by Pieter Cleppe
In the wake of the Paris attacks, Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe and Leopold Traugott look at possible responses to the terrorist threat and set out four reasons why national governments should not…
by Pieter Cleppe
It would be unfair to criticize the European Union for its handling of the biggest refugee and migration crisis since the second World War, if the EU wasn’t making it all even…
photo source: politico
by Pieter Cleppe
A third Greek bailout involving loans from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the eurozone’s bailout scheme, is now being negotiated. The start was quite rocky, with haggling over the precise…
photo source: dailyreadlist
by Pieter Cleppe
Last Sunday, Eurozone countries submitted yet another ultimatum to Greece: implement a whole round of reforms, from eliminating early retirement over scrapping exemptions from sales tax to opening shops on Sunday, and…