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Neighbourhood Policy

Preparing Europe for the next 25 years

Title Original Language: 
Préparer l'Europe pour les 25 prochaines années
Abstract Original Language: 
'Préparer l'Europe pour les 25 prochaines années' est une contribution du Secrétaire Général du Parlement européen pour ESPAS (The European Strategy and Policy Analysis System). ESPAS est un cadre de coopération et de consultation, au niveau administratif, sur une base volontaire, entre le Parlement européen, la Commission européenne, le Conseil de l'Union européenne et le Service d'Action extérieure, avec le Comité des Régions et le Comité économique et social en tant qu'observateurs, dans le but d'analyser ensemble les tendances à court et moyen termes pertinentes pour l'Union européenne
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Publication date: 
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Abstract in English: 
Preparing Europe for the next 25 years is a contribution from the Secretary General of the European Parliament to the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS). ESPAS provides a framework for cooperation and consultation at administrative level, on a voluntary basis, between the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European External Action Service, with the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee as observers, to work together on medium and long-term trends facing or relating to the European Union.
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37
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European Union in the World 2025: Scenarios for EU relations with its neighbours and strategic partners

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Publication date: 
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Abstract in English: 
Who would have thought a decade ago that not only the European Union but also its neighbourhood both in the East and in the South would have been turned upside down due to a series of crises? Back in 2006 the EU had gone through a successful ‘big bang’ enlargement absorbing ten Central and Eastern European countries and was about to take two more states on board. The economy was doing well, ideas for establishing a ‘ring of friends’ in the immediate neighbourhood were flowering and Russia was seen as a close partner. Yet things have gone differently than might have expected. The financial crisis, the Arab Spring and its consequences, the Russian annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine, the development of ISIS, the war in Syria and the growing number of refugees and migrants from North Africa and the Middle East are challenges the European Union has been facing in recent years.

Although predictions of the end of the European project seem to be premature, it has become obvious that the EU is in a serious crisis, both as an idea and as an organisation and international actor. Therefore simply reacting to crises is no longer an option. The EU desperately needs to think and act strategically if it wants to survive and to have any influence on the global stage.

Above all, it needs to define its future-oriented interests and how these interests can be reconciled with values that the EU attempts to project and protect. Against this backdrop, the Dahrendorf Forum – Debating Europe initiated a foresight project which aimed to set out different scenarios for the future relationship between the European Union and the five countries/regions of the Dahrendorf Forum: Ukraine and Russia, Turkey, MENA, United States and China.

The alternative futures engage in defining the most likely trajectories, downside risks, new trends and ‘unknown unknowns’. By reflecting the forward-looking challenges, the Dahrendorf Foresight Project tries to assess the EU’s role in the world in 2025.
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64
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EU to DO 2015-2019: Memos to the new EU leadership.

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Publication date: 
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Abstract in English: 
The new EU leadership – the president of the European Commission and his team of commissioners, and the presidents of the European Council and of the European Parliament – will have to address pressing challenges. Despite the significant steps taken by Europe – among them the creation of a European Stability Mechanism, the start of a banking union, the strengthening of fiscal rules and substantial structural reforms in crisis countries – results for citizens are still unsatisfactory. It is impossible to summarise all the memos in this volume but a common theme is the need to focus on pro-growth policies, on a deepening of the single market, on better and more global trade integration. Reverting to national protectionism, more state aid for national or European champions – as frequently argued for by national politicians – will not be the right way out of the crisis. On the contrary, more Europe and deeper economic integration in some crucial areas, such as energy, capital markets and the digital economy, would greatly support the feeble recovery. But in other areas, less Europe would also be a highly welcome signal that the new European leadership is serious about subsidiarity. Internal re-organisation of the European Commission to ensure that it better delivers would also be welcome.
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168
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What project for Europe? An introduction to the national debate "Quelle France dans 10 ans?"

Title Original Language: 
Quel projet pour l'Europe? Note d'introduction au débat national "Quelle France dans 10 ans?"
Abstract Original Language: 
L’Europe apparaît parfois comme la responsable des difficultés françaises ou, inversement, comme le seul espoir de demeurer un acteur qui pèse sur la scène mondiale. Au-delà de telles positions tranchées, l’évidence est que les futurs de la France et de l’Europe sont de facto très liés. Il est donc nécessaire pour la France de clarifier sa manière d’être à l’initiative pour aider l’Europe à se redresser.

Jamais les incertitudes sur l’avenir de l’intégration européenne n’ont été aussi fortes. Ses difficultés à créer une prospérité partagée et un horizon de progrès social, à constituer une valeur ajoutée incontestable dans la compétition mondiale et une ambition partagée par les peuples ont érodé l’élan européen. La crise de la zone euro et les divergences entre pays sont venues accentuer la perception d’une Europe à l’édifice institutionnel inachevé, qui n’a pas clarifié ses intentions sur les buts à atteindre, et dont les décisions s’élaborent trop loin des citoyens. La valeur de l’Union persiste pourtant, qu’il s’agisse de faire de son marché de 500 millions de consommateurs un levier de croissance et d’influence ou de porter des valeurs de paix, de démocratie et de progrès économique et social.

Pour que la France joue un rôle moteur dans le renouveau du projet européen et de son idéal de prospérité partagée, il lui faut clarifier son ambition. Une refondation du marché unique est-elle possible ? Au sein de la zone euro, un progrès parallèle de la responsabilité budgétaire et de la solidarité est-il possible ? Partage des risques et partage de la souveraineté peuvent-ils aller de pair ? Une union politique est-elle souhaitable et sur quelle base ?

Comment envisager la question des frontières européennes ? À quels efforts sommes-nous prêts pour la stabilité et la prospérité de nos voisins ? Quelles sont, au total, les conditions économiques et politiques requises pour que la France s’inscrive avec succès dans une stratégie ambitieuse de refondation européenne ? Telles sont quelques-unes des questions que nous devons nous poser aujourd’hui.

Contributeurs : Marine Boisson, Etienne Espagne, Cécile Jolly, Jean-Paul Nicolaï, François Vielliard.

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Date of Editorial Board meeting: 
Publication date: 
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Abstract in English: 
There has never been so much uncertainty concerning the future of European integration. Its difficulties in creating a shared prosperity and a socially progressive outlook, in generating incontestable added value against global competition and in fostering an ambition espoused by its citizens have depleated the energy of Europe. The Eurozone crisis and the divergence between countries have heightened the perception of Europe as an incomplete institutional framework that has failed to make its intentions clear in order to attain its objectives, and in which the decision-making process is too far removed from citizens. Nevertheless, the value of the Union remains, whether in terms of making its 500 million-strong consumer market a lever for growth and influence or of upholding the values of peace, democracy and economic and social progress. In order for France to play a dynamic role in the European project and its ideal of shared prosperity, its ambitions must be made clear. Can the single market be reformulated? Within the eurozone, can there be parallel progress in budgetary responsibility and solidarity? Can risks and sovereignty be shared? Is political union desirable and on what basis? How should the debate on European borders be framed? To what lengths are we prepared to go for the stability and prosperity of our neighbours? In sum, what are the economic and political conditions required in order for France successfully to pursue an ambitious strategy of European renewal? These are some of the questions that we are required to address at this time.
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