Europe
Europe is described here in a geographical sense. It is not limited to the European Union, and includes, for example, the United Kingdom and the Balkans. It remains central to international relations.
Related Subjects
The Future of Europe’s Strategic Deterrence is (also) at Sea
A cursory look at both France and the UK suggests that the future of European nuclear deterrence is at sea.
An Overview of Italy's Energy Mix
Italy is currently hit by an unprecedented economic, political and social crisis. This changing and uncertain environment affects more than ever the ability to define an energy strategy, which has never really benefitted from a clear vision and a solid organization. Since the 1987 referendum, which acknowledged the end of the nuclear program, the Italian energy policy has been elaborated through a juxtaposition of decrees and rules. Several laws have been approved either to comply with the European regulation or to correct former policies. These have contributed to the creation of a highly intricate regulation puzzle, only accessible to the most voluntary ones or the better equipped. The “success” of renewables subsidies has compromised the profitability of thermal power stations and increased the energy bills of retail consumers.
Building Security Institutions: Lessons Learned in Afghanistan
After its rapid military victory over the Taliban, the international community underestimated the resources, time and work that would be required enforce to Security Sector Reform (SSR) in Afghanistan. Even though the Afghan population was supportive of the coalition’s efforts at first, the light footprint approach, fostered by the Europeans, failed to provide with satisfying results as the insurgency made its way through popular frustration.
France and the EEAS: A give-and-take relationship
Based on interviews with diplomats from a representative cross-section of nine member states and members of the EEAS (European External Action Service) itself, the research findings of this EPIN Working Paper confirm long-standing traditions and member state perceptions of cooperation with European institutions.
Tough love between Britain and the European Union
Discussions of a potential “Brexit”, the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, have sparked debate in Britain, and also across Europe, intensified by the UK veto of the “fiscal compact” at the European Council in December 2011. What sounded like the absurd pipedream of a few hard-core eurosceptics a couple of years ago has now become a genuine possibility.
The EU internal market - a stake or a tool in European-Russian gas relations. The case of new member states gas policy
Since 2010 we have observed a new quality in EU energy policy. It is related to the European Commission’s more or less direct engagement in the bilateral gas relations of a part of the new member states - Poland, Bulgaria and Lithuania - with Russia.
The EU and the Crisis: Do We Need More Integration?
The European Union is facing a tremendous challenge: coming out of the crisis unified. Every summit is both labeled the one of all hopes and the one of the last chance. Information keeps coming in, which hampers a good comprehension of the situation.
February Gas Pains in Europe - Coping Is Not Managing: the Italian Response to the Gas Crisis
The recent cold spell that gripped much of Europe was a test for the European gas network. In many countries temperatures fell dramatically to -10°C during the first week of February, even dropping a bone chilling - 22°C in some places.
As the European Commission(s Director General for Energy Philippe Lowe said during a speech at our Annual Conference last Thursday (February 16) in Brussels, Europe(s gas network was able to respond to the sharp increase in demand despite a simultaneous drop in supply from Gazprom.
Establishing the Rule of Law: the U.N. Challenge in Kosovo
Created on the 10th July 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244, UNMIK was responsible for restructuring the institutions of a country devastated by war and establishing democratic governance. The security of people and goods and the existence of a legal system trusted by the population were two crucial prerequisites to the state-building process.
Capacity Mechanisms : EU or National Issue? Are Capacity Remuneration Mechanisms Helping to Build the Market or Just a Symptom of What Does Not Work ?
In a competitive energy system, generation investment choices are let to investors. It is then the responsibility of the market actors to invest and ensure peak, medium and base load generation, based on market perspectives and trends. If through actors" investments the stability of the system cannot be ensured (because, for example, peak generation is not sufficient to satisfy demand), some measures have to be taken. These can have economic and system integrity impacts on neighboring systems, especially if they are connected. This is precisely what is happening in the European electricity market.
Kazakhstan and Eurasian Economic Integration: Quick Start, Mixed Results and Uncertain Future
Kazakhstan's economic integration with Russia and Belarus has been advancing at break-neck speed.
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Related centers and programs
The Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa)
The Committee for the Study of Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) was created in 1954 by an inter-governmental agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and France, in order to raise awareness of Germany in France and analyze Franco-German relations, including in their European and international dimensions. In its conferences and seminars, which bring together experts, political leaders, senior decision-makers and representatives of civil society from both countries, Cerfa develops the Franco-German debate and stimulates political proposals. It regularly publishes studies through two collections: Cerfa notes and studies as well as Franco-German visions.
Cerfa maintains close relations with the network of German foundations and think tanks. In addition to its research and debate activities, Cerfa promotes the emergence of a new Franco-German generation through original cooperation programs. This is how in 2021-2022, Cerfa led a program on multilateralism with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Paris. This program is aimed at young professionals from both countries interested in the issues of multilateralism in the context of their activities. It covered a wide range of themes relating to multilateralism, such as international trade, health, human rights and migration, non-proliferation and disarmament. Previously, Cerfa had participated in the Franco-German future dialogue, co-led with the DGAP from 2007 to 2020, and supported by the Robert Bosch Foundation and the Daniel Vernet group (formerly the Franco-German Reflection Group) which was founded in 2014 upon the initiative of the Genshagen Foundation.
Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (ÖFZ)
The Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (ÖFZ/CFA) is a Franco-Austrian intergovernmental organization, initiated in 1976 by Prime Minister Jacques Chirac and Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, in order to develop economic relations between Western and Eastern Europe, contributing to the creation of a Europe of peace.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ÖFZ/CFA refocused its action on the problems following the enlargement of the European Union, and integrated the following countries in its field of activities : Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, the Baltic countries, Romania and Bulgaria. ÖFZ/CFA's vocation, as a space for reflection and exchange, is in fact reinforced by the need to support the new member countries of the Union in their integration process. Since 2004, the ÖFZ/CFA has also turned towards the Union's new neighbors, in particular towards the countries of the Western Balkans, which perceive their future from a European perspective.
The ÖFZ/CFA strives to place all of its exchanges in a global perspective concerning the future of our continent. Today it centers its activities around three directions: the Franco-Austrian bilateral dialogue, the future of the European Union, the future recomposition of the continent.
Reports of all events organized by the ÖFZ/CFA are available on its website (http://oefz.at). The ÖFZ/CFA's budget is provided by the French and Austrian foreign ministries. Depending on the themes addressed, the ÖFZ/CFA calls on European public and private institutions to help finance its meetings. The CFA's orientations benefit from the recommendations of an Orientation Council, approved by a Board of Directors, which elects from among its members a president and a secretary general.