European Union

“The question we ask in this annual publication is not how Europe is dealing with disorder but how others are coping with growing instability”.

In this video, FRIDE Director Giovanni Grevi explains the main findings of this year’s annual publication on European foreign policy challenges. Grevi talks about the disorder management strategies of nine different countries facing instability – ranging from major powers with the ability or aspiration for global influence (i.e. China, the United States) to others with a regional focus (i.e. Iran, Turkey) – and the implications of those strategies for Europe. In addition, Grevi gives some key recommendations for the EU on how to make a relevant contribution to security, for itself, its partners, and the region.

Cast your mind back to November.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the new European Commission president, was being pummeled by the European Parliament after a leak revealed widespread tax avoidance in Luxembourg while he was prime minister of the Grand Duchy.

Like Captain Renault in Casablanca, MEPs queued up during a failed vote of no confidence to declare themselves “shocked, shocked” that tax avoidance was going on in Luxembourg.

In a bid to quell the criticism, Mr Juncker said that a lack of tax harmonization within the EU was to blame. To combat this, the commission president said he would introduce legislation to force the automatic exchange of tax-rulings that affect companies based in other member states.

But, according to this leaked document from 2012, both the commission and member states have long been aware of the problem of cross-border tax-rulings – and had already looked into ensuring the automatic exchange of tax information.

The Code of Conduct Group, which looks at business taxation with the commission, came out with guidance in 2012 to encourage member states to “spontaneously exchange the relevant information” on cross border tax rulings. They then asked member states how feasible this was.

The video shows a single, fully armed Russian Air Force Su-27 Flanker jet as it intercepts and shadows a P-3 Orion, reportedly flying over the Baltics. This unclassified video was filmed in November 2014 by “one of the sensors carried by a Portuguese Air Force P-3 Orion MPA – Maritime Patrol Aircraft – during a mission over the Baltic Sea.” It’s pretty standard for the Russian Air Force to launch a single fighter jet to identify and escort NATO surveillance planes. This video proves that even the Russians keep an eye on NATO, as well as non-NATO states' surveillance- and intelligence-gathering activities in the region.

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2015 is the European Year of international development, during which a new framework for development should be adopted. The development agenda has changed and although the EU remains the world’s largest donor of official development assistance (ODA), countries such as China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Korea are playing an increasingly important role in development.

Flickr-jbdodane

The EU’s relations with its strategic partners varies depending on each country and although emerging powers have similar interests, their strategies in relation to both development cooperation and the multilateral development agenda differ. In this context and in light of a book published by FRIDE, New donors, new partners? EU strategic partnerships and development, senior researcher Clare Castillejo analyses the opportunities for engagement between the EU and its strategic partners and the approaches followed by the five emerging powers mentioned above.

Click here to watch the video-interview with Clare Castillejo.

Diplomats reported little progress in talks between foreign ministers in Berlin earlier this week

The new year has brought with it much talk of new diplomatic “windows” opening for talks between Europe and the Kremlin, thanks in large part to the sudden economic chaos Russia faces due to the plummeting price of oil and value of the rouble.

Such talk has come from a number of capitals, including Riga, home to the EU’s new Latvian presidency, and Brussels, in the form of foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. But critics point out that nothing has changed on the ground. Fighting continues, including a an attack on a Ukrainian bus this week which left 12 dead, and Moscow has made no progress in implementing the so-called Minsk agreement, the blueprint all EU leaders have cited as a pre-requisite to ratcheting down its sanctions regime against Russia.

Indeed, according to EU officials recent hopes of Russian acquiescence ahead of a proposed summit in the Kazakh capital of Astana have largely been dashed during diplomatic discussions with Germany and France because of refusals by the Kremlin to budge.

Still, the issue will gradually rise up the agenda in Brussels as the sanctions agreed last year begin to expire – the first in March, but incrementally towards the big economic measures which run out in June and July. It will take a unanimous decision of all 28 EU countries to renew the sanctions.

Despite the lack of progress with Russia, Mogherini this week circulated an “issues paper on relations with Russia” ahead of Monday’s meeting of foreign ministers that proposes a series of re-engagements with Moscow. Our friends and rivals at the Wall Street Journal were the first to report about it, but we’ve posted a copy of the paper here.