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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
Looking to get better acquainted with the EU machinery? Join us in October for another one-day training session on the EU decision-making process! The training will be interactive and structured in four different thematic sections with breaks in between (including one hour break for lunch).
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Why participate?
📌 The training is client-tailored, based on the policy preferences of the participants;
📌 We will look together into how, when and by whom binding decisions are made;
📌 The training will go beyond the formal dynamics within the institutions, addressing the practicalities of internal processes in each of the institutions and the inter-institutional negotiations known as trilogues;
📌 In order to fully grasp the nature of EU decision-making, we will discuss the EU competences. Continue Reading
Looking to get better acquainted with the EU machinery? Join us for a one-day training session on the EU decision-making process! The training will be interactive and structured in four different thematic sections with breaks in between (including one hour break for lunch).
Why participate?
•The training is client-tailored, based on the policy preferences of the participants;
•We will look together into how, when and by whom binding decisions are made;
•We will cover all the latest institutional developments, such as the distribution of the new portfolios in the European Commission, the internal organization of the new European Parliament, and the ever-changing Presidencies of the Council of the European Union;
•The training will go beyond the formal dynamics within the institutions, addressing the practicalities of internal processes in each of the institutions and the inter-institutional negotiations known as trilogues;
•In order to fully grasp the nature of EU decision-making, we will discuss the EU competences. Continue Reading
Despite the rocky start of the Parliamentary vetting process, the new College of Commissioners led by Ursula von der Leyen is still expected to take office before the end of the year. While often sneered as ‘faceless Eurocrats’ by its staunchest critics, the College of Commissioners is mostly composed of career politicians whose task is to provide political impetus to the powerful executive machine of the EU, which is currently made up of about 30.000 civil servants. Continue Reading
The confirmation process of the new College of Commissioners got off to a rocky start, after the Committee on Legal Affairs refused to green-light two Commissioners-designate (Rovana Plumb from Romania – S&D – and László Trócsányi from Hungary – EPP) for alleged conflicts of interest.
This is highly relevant for stakeholders as it showcases how the political battles ahead will look like:
1) Protection by traditional political families is now less effective
The content of the arguments used for the rejection is, of course, relevant, but since the subject is brought to the interpretation of fellow politicians (as opposed to independent judges), it is difficult to overlook the political considerations of parties. Continue Reading
* Did you know that? Independent studies place VoteWatch as the platform most followed by the Members of the European Parliament and our reports are regularly re-quoted by reputed institutions and the international media (The Economist, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, La Stampa, Politico, CNN, New York Times etc.).
We all knew that Manfred Weber was an ambitious politician. Continue Reading
By Carolina Chaparro Alba
The increasingly assertive behavior of the US administration and of other major powers such as Russia and China, is posing a challenge to the clout of the EU in the world. While also facing the rise of nationalist forces across the European continent, the EU executive branch is becoming more isolated in its promotion of a consensus-driven approach to internal relations. Continue Reading
How will the EU institutions look like after the 2019 reshuffle? This is the question on everyone’s mind in Brussels, but the answers differ based on the information that one has (one’s personal mini-bubble). In order to get an overview of the expectations of the EU affairs community as a whole, VoteWatch Europe has surveyed more than 1.000 members of the broader ‘EU bubble’ (which also includes national civil servants, whose views are more reflective of the different national perspectives) for their views regarding the reallocation of top EU positions in 2019 (Presidencies of European Commission, European Parliament, European Council and European Central Bank). Continue Reading
Against the background of rising trade protectionism (which led to the deadlock of the EU-US trade deal – TTIP), the Europeans try to look for traction elsewhere. After 17 years since the negotiations between the EU and Mercosur started, all the cards are finally on the table. With a market of more than 250 million people, Mercosur is gaining more and more the attention of the European investors. Continue Reading
The trade defense reform recently proposed by the European Commission is directly aiming at limiting Chinese exports to the EU, a creative way to avoid frontal collision with WTO regulations. This strategy has gained momentum especially after the Brexit referendum, as this is removing a key ally of China from the EU power game: the UK has been the most pro free-trade EU government and British leaders have fought, from inside the EU institutions, to block protectionist moves by the EU. Continue Reading
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