Executive webinar: Digital legislation, mapping MEPs’ views and influence

Leave a comment Published in: Events, Events and Opportunities, Insights, News, Policy briefs, Varia

Tuesday 13th of April, 10.00-10.30 (Zoom)

This free executive webinar is for senior EU affairs professionals and campaigners of public and private stakeholders who are involved in shaping the DSA, DMA and related legislation.

We will show what the actual position and level of influence of key MEPs are and which MEPs you need on board in order to build majorities.

You will quickly be able to assess the size of your potential coalition, who your allies are and on whom it makes the most sense to focus in order to optimise your resources and effectiveness. Continue Reading

Scenarios: implications of the new Fidesz-PiS-Lega alliance

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Copyright: European Union

The result of the current negotiations for a new political alliance will tell us whether what we are witnessing is geographical clustering (a sign of a rift between “richer” North-Western EU on the one hand and the South and East on the other), or if it’s a broader regrouping of the nationalists across the EU into the main opposition force in the European Parliament. Continue Reading

Special highlights from EU decision making: EU-Serbia relations, Data protection & Ambient air quality

Leave a comment Published in: EP Plenary, Insights, News, Politics & Institutions, Varia

This briefing includes our latest observations regarding the politics behind EU policies on the following subjects:

– EU-Serbia relations

– Data Protection

– Ambient air quality (for premium subscribers only)

EU-Serbia relations

The accession of Serbia to the EU is having a hard time, as demonstrated by a wave of criticism injected in its yearly progress report. Continue Reading

VoteWatch Analytical Tool: Directory by policy area

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This is a directory of the currently available influence matrices (which are explained in-depth here). Our new analytical tools will help you identify the kingmakers and swing-voters among MEPs, as well as show you how to forecast the outcome and build majorities that would support your priorities.

Use this analytical tool to spot a) how influential MEPs are in a given policy area and b) in which direction each MEP is pulling EU legislation. Continue Reading

Special highlights from EU decision making: Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and corporate due diligence

Leave a comment Published in: EP Plenary, Insights, News, Policy, Politics & Institutions, Varia

This briefing includes our latest observations regarding the politics behind EU policies on the following subjects:

– Corporate due diligence

– Tax coordination

– Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (premium subscribers only)

– Fisheries policy (premium subscribers only)

– Sustainable Growth Strategy  (premium subscribers only)

Corporate due diligence

Latest EP voting sessions indicate that the pro-regulation camp is gaining ground in the European Parliament when it comes to implementing a mandatory and binding human rights due diligence framework across the whole value chain. Continue Reading

Vaccine diplomacy: (new) global map of influence

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During a pandemic, vaccines become the most valuable commodity, allowing the countries and entities that develop and produce them to gain significant political influence at the regional or global level. When looking at the “spheres of expansions” of the types of vaccines, it is notable that although most of the biggest pharmaceutical companies are based in either the United States or Europe, Western companies seem to have been caught off guard by some of their competitors, especially those from China and Russia. Continue Reading

Bad mapping of the Parliament: a recipe for disaster

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©European Union

More often than not, influencers are taken by surprise when the European Parliament goes against their positions and those of the Commission or the Council. As the Parliament becomes more influential, this occurrence becomes ever more frequent. In this analysis we look at one key reason why this happens: most MEPs do not belong to (leading) governing parties, hence they have extra incentive to go against their governments’ position.  Continue Reading

Impact of EPP-Fidesz divorce to be bigger than expected

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TUBS, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

It is hard to overestimate the impact of Fidesz’s choice to leave the EPP group in the European Parliament. In addition to the obvious changes in the balance of power in the EU institutions and the related policy implications, the broader geopolitical dynamics should not be neglected. Concretely, while the departure of Orban’s MEPs facilitates closer cooperation between EPP, Macron’s group and the Social-Democrats, it also deepens the geographical divides between the North-Western EU and (part of) “new Europe”, providing fertile ground for the increasing influence of non-EU players in the EU’s backyard. Continue Reading

Special highlights from EU decision making: sustainable finance and Nord Stream 2 project

Leave a comment Published in: Insights, News, Politics & Institutions, Varia

This briefing includes our latest observations regarding the politics behind EU policies on the following subjects:

– Sustainable finance

– European Deposit Insurance Scheme

– Nord Stream Pipeline

– EU relations with the Middle East countries

– Green public procurement (premium subscribers only)

– Carbon Capture Storage and Utilisation (premium subscribers only)

– Due diligence in the mineral industry (premium subscribers only)

– EU framework on minimum income (premium subscribers only)

–

Finance

Broad political support was confirmed in the EP for increasing the share of green bonds in the portfolio of the European Central Bank (ECB). Continue Reading

Maastricht University joins our selective group of users of advanced EU political analytics!

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Romaine, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Maastricht-Universiteitsbibliotheek_aan_de_Nieuwenhofstraat_%281%29.jpg

VoteWatch Europe is pleased to announce that the University of Maastricht has recently joined our PREMIUM community, taking its place alongside many other top-tier academic institutions that benefit from our advanced analytics, such as KU Leuven, Pompeu Fabra University and many others.  Continue Reading