The EU has not been perceived as reacting very rapidly or effectively to the so-called Arab Spring. Events do appear to validate the idea underpinning the European Security Strategy (ESS) and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP): only where governments guarantee to their citizens security, prosperity, freedom and equality, can peace and stability last – otherwise, people will revolt. But in practice, in its southern neighbourhood the EU has acted in precisely the opposite manner, so the Arab Spring is occurring in spite of rather than thanks to EU policy.

International standards and norms in banking regulations have, once again, leapt to the forefront of policy discussions in developed nations due to the recent crisis in the world’s financial markets. These discussions are not new, nor do they apply exclusively to the world’s most advanced economies. A sound and well-enforced regulatory regime can help developing nations to channel financial resources more efficiently into investments. For open economies, it can also act as a buffer and an important stability factor in today’s shaky market situation.

The simmering debate in Europe about multiculturalism versus assimilation has now come to a boil. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, famously stated in October 2010 that “multiculturalism in Germany (Multikulti) had failed, completely failed”. In February 2011, both Prime Minister David Cameron and President Nicholas Sarkozy could also be heard declaring that multiculturalism was a failure, although only the French President endorsed assimilation as the alternative. Others argue that both assimilation and multiculturalism have failed.

The system for financing the EU today is on its last legs. Indeed, with the EU budget being predominantly financed by national contributions, member states attach great importance to what they get in return, which in the end affects the European principle of solidarity and makes every budgetary negotiation a potential arena for political blockage. The economic and financial crisis, with its corresponding increase in the public deficit of member states, has unfortunately worsened the situation.

This study, conducted by researchers at Sciences Po in Paris, CEPS and the New Economic School of Georgia, assesses the present state of the EU-Georgia discussions on a free trade agreement and finds there is an urgent need for the European Commission to reshape its approach. To this end, the authors put forward concrete proposals that should be set in motion well before the autumn 2011 Eastern Partnership Summit.

How, for what and to whom can citizens hold accountable the expenditure of some €120 billion each year by the EU budget? This book highlights three main factors that lie at the root of an accountability gap: opaque revenue arrangements making citizens unaware of their contribution, the setting of numerous and grand objectives whose vague expectations are hard to account for and, finally, the delegation of the main management to member state bodies that are not accountable at EU level.

Together with researchers from two other Brussels-based research institutes ¬Egmont (Belgium’s Royal Institute of International Affairs) and the European Policy Centre (EPC), CEPS examines the institutional innovations that are gradually being introduced as a result of the Treaty of Lisbon.
Contributors:
CEPS: Piotr Maciej Kaczyński, Peadar ó Broin
EGMONT: Franklin Dehousse, Philippe de Schoutheete, Tinne Heremans, Jacques Keller, Guy Milton (in association), Nick Witney (in association)

This book celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) by bringing together the views of key practitioners and policy-makers who have played an outstanding role in thinking about and shaping EU policies on freedom, security and justice.

This new CEPS-FRIDE paperback offers the first assessment of the ambitious strategy to upgrade the EU’s cooperation with the five states of the Central Asia region: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Undertaken by independent analysts from the EU and Central Asia within the context of the EUCAM project, the book looks at the role of Russia, China, the US and others in Central Asia, as well the current state of politics and economics in the region.

Economic theory and empirical findings suggest that the way in which agricultural support is provided has an influence on land markets. Support payments tend to become capitalised into land values to some degree, affecting both the sales and rental prices of land. These effects in turn have a bearing on the transfer efficiency of the support and structural change in agriculture.

Is international democracy promotion in the European neighbourhood running out of steam, after the disappointing results from the ‘colour revolutions’ in Georgia and Ukraine of 2004-2005? What is the changing impact of factors such as corrupt state capture, energy resources, rent-seeking behaviour, the financial crisis and the perceived threat of radical Islam on democratisation in the region?

The fifth volume of Readings in European Security tackles the big issues of European and global security in these turbulent political and economic times, offering expert analysis under the following headings:

Is there a way for the Greater Middle East?

Does Europe Need a New Missile Defence System?

What is ‘just’ secession? (Is Kosovo unique?)

What prospects for normative foreign policy in a multipolar world?

On June 4th, Obama will deliver his long-anticipated speech in Cairo, which is expected to convey a reconciliatory message to Arabs and Muslims across the world. As both the US and the EU are trying to reset their policies in the Middle East, the challenge of how to deal with the most important emerging actors in the region – Islamists – remains a matter of great controversy.

The year 2009 may well be a make-or-break year for the protracted Cyprus conflict. While strategic assessments and elite incentives bode cautiously well for a settlement, ultimately an agreement will have to be approved by the two Cypriot communities and above all it will have to be implemented by them on the ground.