Latest posts
The greater market integration of the European Higher Education Area may have unequal benefits across countries and disciplines.
NEW
Since the late 1990s, European higher education has moved towards greater integration, increasing student mobility and more comparable national systems. The past two decades have also seen a gradual rise in the role of market elements in higher educa...
The problems faced by Greece’s public sector are such that the sudden closure of ERT may have been the least bad option.
NEW
Last week, with almost no warning, the Greek government closed the national broadcaster, ERT, putting over 2,700 jobs at risk. Kevin Featherstone argues that while the way the announcement was made raised justifiable concerns, the central objective s...
Turkey’s protests have stirred debate about democracy and the unchecked power of governments that have an electoral mandate.
NEW
What do the protests of the past two weeks mean for democracy in Turkey? Zeynep N. Kaya and Matthew Whiting argue that they represent the clash between the desire of the Prime Minister, Recep Tayip Erdoğan, for a majoritarian politics … C...
The role of women in post-conflict societies remains an unfinished project.
NEW
Some feminist authors have argued that peace settlements have the potential to perpetuate gender inequality by privileging communal unity over the rights of women. Bernadette C. Hayes and Ian McAllister assess this perspective in the case of Northern...
The latest agreement on the governance of the Schengen border control regime simply revamps old rules and changes little on the ground.
NEW
Concerned by growing migratory pressures on Europe’s external borders, some EU member states have called for a revision of the rules regarding the imposition of national border controls within the EU. Ruben Zaiotti examines the recent agreement...
Since the beginning of the economic crisis voters have punished incumbent governments for rising unemployment, but not for rising income inequality.
NEW
Rising income inequality has been a key criticism during protests such as the ‘Occupy’ movement, but it is unclear how such criticisms affect voting behaviour. Florence Bouvet and Sharmila King test the extent to which voters have penalis...
Book Review: The Year of Dreaming Dangerously
NEW
2011 caught the world off guard with a series of shattering political and economic events, and in this book Slavoj Žižek looks back on how protesters in New York, Cairo, London, and Athens took to the streets in pursuit of emancipation...
Book Review: Europe’s Immigration Challenge: Reconciling Work, Welfare and Mobility
NEW
Debates over immigration in Europe have intensified since the start of the Eurozone crisis. This book compiles a number of contributions on the effect of immigration on European economies and welfare states. Alexandre Afonso finds the chapters to var...
Spain’s new transparency law could become the first step into a real process of institutional regeneration.
NEW
Public scrutiny through freedom of information is a fundamental element of a well-functioning democracy, and Spain is one of only three EU nations that do not have such an access to information law. However, recent moves by the new government &hellip...
Five minutes with Mariana Mazzucato: “We have socialised the risk of innovation but privatised the rewards”
NEW
The public sector is often seen as sclerotic and conservative in contrast with a dynamic and innovative private sector. This assumption lies at the basis of much of the outsourcing of public services to the private sector. In this interview …...
Brussels blog round-up for 8 – 14 June: Turkey’s protests continue, Hollande declares crisis over, and Iceland suspends EU negotiations.
NEW
Chris Gilson takes a look at the week in Brussels blogging. The EU centre and the crisis The weekend sees French President Francois Hollande declare the eurozone crisis to now be over. Lost in EUrope is worried about the statement, saying...
Five minutes with Sylvia Walby: “If the Eurozone crisis means that Europe fragments, that would be a serious problem for gender equality”
NEW
What is the EU’s role in improving gender equality across Europe, and does the on-going Eurozone crisis have the potential to exacerbate inequalities in European society? EUROPP’s editors spoke to Sylvia Walby, Distinguished Professor of...
Turkey’s ongoing protests may yet lead to a backlash from the government’s supporters and a new ‘Turkish winter’
NEW
As street protests in Turkey continue, and the government’s response has begun to harden, many are now talking about a coming ‘Turkish spring’. Burak Kadercan warns against such an analysis of these events, arguing that the pro...
voxEUROPP Episode 3: What does it mean to be European?
NEW
Today EUROPP launches the third episode in our voxEUROPP series of podcasts. Presented by Chris Gilson, voxEUROPP draws on academic experts from EUROPP to discuss the latest issues across European governance, economics, polit...
Public opinion outside of Europe is generally favourable toward the EU, but this is only partly due to the EU’s actions.
NEW
How is the EU viewed outside of Europe? Bernd Schlipphak assesses public opinion toward the EU in non-European countries. He notes that for the most part citizens have favourable attitudes about European integration and the EU, but that the EU’...
The second Greek rescue programme was not merely late, but also insufficient, making a third programme inevitable.
NEW
Last week the IMF published a review of the financial assistance given to Greece during its debt crisis. One of the key limitations identified in the report was that debt relief for the country was provided far later than it … Continue reading...
Designing a new UK-EU relationship and how it could be achieved
NEW
The Eurozone crisis has brought the EU’s division into two types of membership into relief, with the euro member states moving closer towards deeper fiscal and economic union, and the others, such as the UK, who remain in the single … Co...
The rise of governments led by technocrats in Europe illustrates the failure of mainstream political parties.
NEW
The Eurozone crisis has led to a perceived rise in ‘technocratic’ governments, led by unelected bureaucrats. Duncan McDonnell argues that caretaker governments are often used as a synonym for technocratic ones by the media, but that...
Decisions made by consensus in the Council of the European Union emerge from the coalition-building behaviour of individual governments.
NEW
Despite the use of qualified majority voting, a high percentage of decisions in the Council of the European Union are still made by consensus. Frank Häge outlines a model which can potentially explain this phenomenon. He argues that the high &he...
Croatia should draw on universities to build its capacity for evaluating the use of EU funds.
NEW
Croatia is due to become the 28th member state of the European Union on the 1st of July. Ahead of the country’s accession, Simona Milio writes on efforts to build Croatia’s capacity for evaluating its use of EU funds. All … Continu...
