Despite the fact that the economic crisis is seen to be monopolizing the efforts of the European leaders, the course of EU enlargement nonetheless is being kept: on July 1st 2013, Croatia will become the twenty-eighth member of the European Union (EU). As a result, we can expect candidate applications from the South-East European countries (the Western Balkans) and the sui generis case of Turkey. The historical mission of the EU in its neighbourhood and on its borders must not however, overshadow the shaded areas of the enlargement. Indeed, the rule of law and justice are sometimes exploited for political purposes as evidenced by trials implicating the former Romanian, Hungarian and Croatian premiers – trials not always conducted (...)

Neue Veranstaltung des Thomas More Institutes | Mittwoch, 15. Mai 2013, 18-20 Uhr | ESPLANADE Hotel, Berlin

In den letzten Jahren hat der Pessimismus gegenüber dem europäischen Einheitsprojekt einen deutlichen Zuwachs erfahren. Die Ablehnung des Verfassungsprojekts 2005 ist nur eines von vielen Anzeichen dafür. Seit dem Ausbruch der Wirtschafts- und Finanzkrise haben sich die Zweifel am europäischen Projekt weiter verstärkt. Heute sind nur noch 33% der Bürger Europas der Ansicht, dass man den Institutionen der EU vertrauen entgegen bringen könnte. 

Gerade mit Hinblick auf die Erweiterung der EU ist heute eine deutliche Ermüdung zu konstatieren. Dem Eintritt Kroatiens in die EU wird nicht dieselbe Euphorie entgegen (...)

New Meeting of the Thomas More Institute | Wednesday, April 24th, 2013, 6-8 pm | Radisson Blu EU Hotel, Brussels

Pessimism about the European project has increased over the years and the failure of the Constitutional Treaty in 2005 only reinforced this feeling. With the on-set of the financial and economic crisis of 2008, doubts surrounding the European project have now turned into what one may see as a popular defiance against the European Union with only 33% of Europeans still trusting the EU institutions.

In order to regain the trust of a concerned public, the policies undertaken by the EU to overcome the on-going economic crisis will not suffice. The EU, its existing and future Member States, such as Croatia soon, must (...)

The choice of Angela Merkel to make Germany, since the beginning of the crisis, the "insurer" for debt of other members of the euro area has never been very popular in the German population ... But the Chancellor has always been, so far, to find a balance between the defense of these measures of European solidarity and the defense of German interests. This time could be over, with the creation of the Party Alternative für Deutschland, claiming more or less out of Germany in the euro area. Five months before the federal election, nervousness grows in government | By Jakob HÖBER, Research Fellow at the Thomas More Institute | Available in French

Le choix de Peer Steinbrück comme candidat du SPD à la Chancellerie à l’automne (...)

The renunciation of Benedict XVI calls attention to Rome and Europe. As a matter of fact, the historical interdependence between Christianity and the Old Continent is the origin of the conception of Europe as a movement and transcendence. This Great Idea is still current | By Jean-Sylvestre MONGRENIER, Research Fellow at the Thomas More Institute | Available in French

La renonciation de Benoît XVI et la réunion prochaine du conclave destiné à élire le nouveau pape appellent l’attention du monde sur Rome, en tant que centre spirituel, et donc sur l’Europe. Ce n’est pas là une simple coïncidence géographique. L’interdépendance historique entre la Chrétienté et l’ancien Occident est à l’origine d’une (...)