Europe Programme

Ankara’s deepening relations with Gulf countries and a potential rerouting of trade are among the factors likely to benefit Turkey.

Germany is ready to rearm, but faces many political challenges to achieve strategic leadership.

Péter Magyar and his Tisza party have won a landslide victory, ending 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s rule. But to what extent voters have also rejected Orbán’s model remains to be seen.

Perhaps, but change will not mean transformation.

Carefully calibrated involvement in the Middle East amplifies Moscow’s leverage from Havana to the frontlines in Ukraine.

The European Commission’s Industrial Accelerator Act has ‘Made in EU’ requirements that aim to adapt the bloc’s open market policy to geopolitical realities.

‘Dissuasion avancée’ is intended to give France’s partners a greater stake in nuclear deterrence, retain French command and control – and prevent proliferation.

The war will not affect Russian plans in Ukraine – but it will likely force a rethink of long-held Russian strategic concepts.

Ideological differences risk paralysing the EU at a crucial juncture. But a synthesis offers a path forward.

Europe’s push to reduce its reliance on the US is likely to be permanent. US policymakers should wake up to this new reality.

Competitiveness is not enough. The former president of the European Central Bank’s call for ‘pragmatic federalism’ would require Europe to strengthen its decision-making process if it wants to weigh in as a fully-fledged power. This will need bolder coalitions of the willing.

Leaders agree on the need to reduce dependencies in defence, technology, energy and trade. But what are the priorities? And can they overcome their fragmented politics?

The Greenland episode taught important lessons: strategic autonomy must be accelerated to stop a haemorrhage of sovereignty; And the Anti-Coercion Instrument can be a powerful weapon in a new geopolitical era.

President Trump’s threats towards Greenland and rumoured American mineral deals with Russia mean NATO allies can no longer rely on the US in the High North. Britain could help fill the military gap, writes Minna Ålander.

Chatham House experts highlight the crunch moments and potential flashpoints in the year ahead.

A €1 trillion commitment is possible – and Europe’s best chance to avoid marginalization at the negotiating table.

Europe can achieve more than pessimists assume. But it requires alignment and political decisiveness.

If the relationship is to remain relevant, the Luanda summit must deliver a genuine turning point in the Africa–EU partnership, with concrete steps needed on critical minerals and migration.

The EPC is helping to forge an awareness of shared European strategic interests. It should now set itself the clear task of redesigning Europe’s strategic security architecture.

The self-destruction of the traditional right represents a massive upheaval of Europe’s post-war political landscape. But a populist axis between the UK, France and Germany is unlikely.

Despite pressure from the far-right, European countries should prioritize a common approach over narrow national interests, or risk the EU’s core principles being undermined.

Grégoire Roos will begin his new role of Programme Director for Europe and Russia in October.

Friedrich Merz’s visit to the UK only a week after that of Emmanuel Macron symbolizes a return of the E3 format – France, Germany and the UK – as the driving force of European security.

After an unambitious summit, NATO allies must return with laser focus to the key issues that were left off the agenda.

Although Friedrich Merz has big ambitions for Germany’s international role, significant domestic pressures remain and will constrain his government’s room for manoeuvre.

As Friedrich Merz becomes German chancellor, Emmanuel Macron may finally have found the partner he needs for France and Germany to reshape European leadership.

Trump’s trade war has brought Norway even closer to the EU and increased the urgency for it to make a decision about membership.

As the EU publishes a new white paper on reforming defence, there are clear priorities to make Europe a stand-alone military power.

Washington wants to secure Ukraine’s valuable raw materials in a headline-grabbing deal, but a joint partnership with the EU and Kyiv is mutually beneficial in the long term.

The former Netherlands defence minister says that Donald Trump’s actions are raising doubts about the US commitment to NATO – in response, Europe must turn its plans to release an extra €800 billion for defence spending into swift action.

Europe and the US recognize that their policies and strategies on the Indo-Pacific need to be more coherent. Existing structures such as the G7 and the Quad could become key forums for enhanced cooperation.

How increasing economic and political inequality and the ‘depoliticization’ of economic policymaking, through technocratic management insulated from national-level parliamentary scrutiny, have contributed to the crisis of democracy in Europe.

The rise of China is one of the greatest challenges for the transatlantic relationship. Despite similar concerns, fundamental differences could prevent a joined-up European and US approach.

Efforts to understand the rise of populist parties and movements in Europe need to take into account the diverse contexts in which anti-establishment protest has flourished.

This paper takes a closer look at the EU’s approach to China and how this may change as US–China tensions intensify.

Important political shifts in 2021 could bring greater clarity on Germany’s changing China policy, no matter who succeeds Angela Merkel as chancellor, writes Noah Barkin.

The post-Brexit context makes the E3 more difficult as a format for cooperation between France, Germany and the UK. The three countries are more likely to be able to develop a shared strategic agenda by identifying specific problems which they need to solve together.

This paper explores European populist movements and their impact on the liberal international order.

A proposed blueprint for Britain’s future foreign policy argues that the country can remain internationally influential post-Brexit by acting as the broker of solutions to global challenges.

How can coordination be improved to address competing policy priorities and migration pressures?

This paper explores the origins of the E3 format of diplomatic coordination between France, Germany and the UK, and its possible future development.

The COVID-19 crisis could lead to a wider rethink of Europe’s political economy. This paper explores what such a model might look like, and what it would mean for the governance of the European Union.

To the extent that perceptions of a crisis in liberal democracy in Europe can be confirmed, this paper investigates the nature of the problem and its causes.

This briefing argues that China’s rise has worrying implications for the liberal order and explores how this will affect the transatlantic relationship.

Brexit, for better or worse, means a major structural change in how people in the UK think about the food they eat. There is an opportunity to reformulate food policy for the better, but this could be easily squandered if not managed carefully.

Turkey’s experience shows the challenges facing a non-member state in a formal customs arrangement with the EU. Post-Brexit Britain should seek a more intimate arrangement with the EU.

The argument that Britain needs to leave the European Union to reclaim its sovereignty is misguided says new paper, Britain, the EU and the Sovereignty Myth.