What is driving the vaccination uptake divide between Western and Eastern Europe? What can be done to overcome these challenges? Tune into this LSE IDEAS and Ratiu Forum webinar examining vaccine hesitancy in marginalised local identities in Central and South-Eastern Europe. Meet the speakers and chair

A renewed EU enlargement policy, with genuine commitment to the European future of the region, should be built on the mobilisation and trust of its people. This is what the Western Balkans and the European continent as a whole during the pandemic need.

In societies devastated by the pandemic, the EU needs to leave its conventional tool-box behind and urgently speed up the Europeanisation of its neighbours in Southeast Europe.

How does Central and Eastern Europe evaluate the German Council Presidency? The Slovak Think Tank GLOBSEC asked 14 experts from 9 CEE countries to do so.

What impact does Euroscepticism have on European politics and the future of Europe? How do Eurosceptic parties shape the political debate about the future of the Union? Has the COVID-19 crisis impacted how Eurosceptic parties that are in power govern? Has Euroscepticism lost or gained ground during the COVID-19 crisis?

What exactly do other member states expect from Germany and how do they set their policy priorities? To answer this, the European Policy Institutes Network (EPIN) has compiled an analysis of 15 different national perspectives.

By: Klaus Körner
Fundamental systemic challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, digitalisation, demographic change, and most importantly global warming are pushing Europe to seek a more genuine European path and to explore new ways in a non-linear fashion. This requires action on local, regional and national but also on EU level with a potential uniting effect. The Russia-Ukraine war, and Europe’s decisive and united front towards Russia is a good illustration how quickly long-held positions can change and increase unity towards joint action. This needs to be translated into a long-term and systemic approach. Moreover, the author explores some ideas how to go beyond the linear to better prepare for future disruptions, such as climate change and formulates policy recommendations how to develop innovative socio-economic, environmental and political answers while strengthening Europe’s resilience.

By: Kurt Bayer
The European Commission has initiated the NextGenerationEU recovery package which for the first time enables the joint European financing of the necessary COVID-19 response. This objective has been accompanied by the temporary suspension of the Stability and Growth Pact that could be extended for a longer time due to the war in Ukraine. Irrespective of that the European Commission re-launched a review on economic governance after COVID-19 with the purpose to renew the debate on the macroeconomic framework of the EU, already communicated in 2020, but now with an emphasis on the lessons learned from COVID-19. The European Commission asked stakeholders and the general public for inputs into this debate, with a deadline for answers by 31 December 2022, structured into 11 questions. This re-evaluation should initiate a new framework for economic policy-making. Taking up this call, the author of this Policy Brief discusses the role of the Stability and Growth Pact, its “defensive“ focus on preventing budgetary spill-overs from deficit countries against a forward-looking joint euro area policy agenda, its focus on individual countries as opposed to a focus on the total EU/euro area economy and formulates policy recommendations.

By: Nedžma Džananović, Sead Turčalo
For many years the level of public trust in the rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been consistently low with the independence of judges and prosecutors further diminishing. Therefore, it is no surprise that in its Analytical Reports the European Commission concludes that the judiciary in the country is barely at an early stage of its preparation for the integration into the European Union. In their Policy Brief the authors argue in favour of financial and personal independence of the judiciary, reintroducing ethics and integrity and avoiding an over-concentration of institutional power.

By: Bardjha Tahiri
Starting just after the war and for more than 20 years now, Kosovo has had international community as the strongest provider of support to strengthen the rule of law. Even though many reforms were undertaken, the country still faces persistent problems. As stated in many international reports, especially in the Kosovo Country Reports delivered by the European Commission over years, the current state of rule of law in Kosovo affects the country’s democratic and economic development, the approximation with the European Union and overall consolidation of the state. Thus, robust actions that are targeted to amend Kosovo’s fragile judiciary system are needed immediately argues the author of this Policy Brief and provides policy recommendations that are some of the many needed measures to be implemented for strengthening the rule of law sector by reforming its functioning and administration.

By: Oana Popescu-Zamfir
Romania’s experience is that of the most intensive push for rule of law and anti-corruption among new European Union (EU) members, given that the country joined in 2007 before it had met EU conditionality. The outcome has been a mixed bag of short-term successes and long-term frustration. Alongside Bulgaria, Romania is one of only two countries to have become EU members and still be subjected to an ongoing monitoring mechanism on justice and the rule of law. The author of this Policy Brief argues that a few important principles of action can be extracted which have universal applicability and also discusses lessons that can be taken for the Western Balkans and the EU based on the Romanian experience.

By: Karl Pichelmann
The response of the European Union to the COVID-19 pandemic has been impressively swift and comprehensive. Creating the Recovery and Resilience Facility and establishing a coherent framework for its implementation has involved constructive, as well as intense policy dialogues between the European Commission and EU member states. This bodes well for the debate about the reform of the EU`s fiscal rules. The French EU presidency and the newly formed German coalition government could now provide additional momentum to the debate. Against this background, the author of this Policy Brief argues that the reform needs to address the key challenges of simultaneously reducing high public debt, while ensuring major investments in green transition, digital transformation and simplifying the fiscal rulebook.

Approval for EU membership has been declining since the beginning of the Corona crisis. Critical view on the role of the EU in procuring vaccines and cushioning the economic consequences of the pandemic. Support for joint EU vaccination certificate.

70 percent: Austria should remain an EU member, 14 percent: Austria should leave the EU

62 percent: Work and tasks of the EU Parliament are important / 68 percent feel badly informed

Two thirds of respondents support increased humanitarian and climate engagement – 58 percent in favour of a new EU treaty

Highest support for Bosnia-Herzegovina (36 percent) - Lowest support for Kosovo (25 percent)

73 percent: Austria should remain an EU member, 13 percent: Austria should leave the EU / 29 percent: Bigger EU budget is needed