Europeum

Policy Paper | Enlargement on Hold: The Price Europe Pays

June 25, 2024

How can the EU enlargement process regain its lost momentum? And how can we learn from previous rounds of enlargement? These questions are answered by a group of authors together with EUROPEUM Institute senior researcher Jana Juzová in a new publication within the REWEU project.

Radio Free Europe | EU Enlargement is threated by the far right parties in Member States, not in the European Parliament

June 14, 2024

Even thought parties belonging to the far right achieved good results in the European elections, their growth was not enough to have a major impact on politics in the future European Parliament. What developments can we anticipate with regard to the policy of enlargement of the EU after the elections? Žiga Faktor, deputy director and head of EUROPEUM Institute's Brussels office, comments on the situation for Serbia's Radio Free Europe.

PES 2024 | The EU must cooperate not only militarily, but also to defend itself against cyber attacks from Russia, said Minister Dvořák at the conference

June 14, 2024

The second day of the Prague European Summit 2024 conference at the Czernin Palace was opened with a speech by Czech Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvořák. He thinks of the enlargement of the European Union as crucial. "We have to realize that the enlargement of the EU, our defense and security and the current Central European position are interconnected," he said.

TN.cz | Possible changes in European subsidies

May 28, 2024

The European Parliament elections are less than two weeks away, and one of the main topics will be the subsidy system. A number of experts are calling for it to be changed, and questions arise as to where the European Union will get the money for subsidies. The transformation of the EU towards green technologies could limit financial resources for structural funds, which would have a negative effect mainly on poorer countries, including the Czech Republic. Economists also point to possible financial problems for the EU after the departure of Great Britain, one of the biggest contributors. Klára Votavová, a researcher at the EUROPEUM Institute, commented on the situation for TV Nova.

Position | National Convention Round Table on the EU

May 27, 2024

How to improve the EU enlargement process? How to ensure that the democratising effect of the accession process is sustained beyond the eventual accession to the EU? And are EU institutional reforms a necessary condition for EU enlargement? Answers to these and other questions are offered by the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy's contribution to the National Convention on the EU's roundtable on Balkans, Turkey or Ukraine: the future of enlargement policy in the context of institutional settings.

Timpul Prezent | European borders, EU enlargement and growing polarization in Slovakia

May 19, 2024

What are the borders of Europe and how do they coincide with the borders of the European Union? What are the prospects for EU enlargement towards the Western Balkans and the former Soviet states? These questions are addressed by Jana Juzová, senior researcher at EUROPEUM Institute for the Timpul Prezent podcast. She also discussed the consequences of the recent attack on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and highlighted the growing polarization of Slovak society and the potential threat to media independence.

BalkanInsight | Far from Czexit but Czechs are Still Sceptics

April 23, 2024

This year the Czech Republic celebrates 20 years since joining the European Union. Czechs are very sceptical about the EU, despite the fact that about 70 percent acknowledge that the Czech Republic benefits from EU membership and would vote to remain. Sceptical perceptions of the Union could be changed by the country's new pro-European leadership. Žiga Faktor, head of the Brussels office and deputy director of the EUROPEUM Institute, commented on this topic for BalkanInsight.

20 Years of Reuniting Europe’s East and West: Is the EU Ready for Another “Big Bang” Enlargement?

April 04, 2024

We would like to invite you to a debate on a topic "20 Years of Reuniting Europe’s East and West: Is the EU Ready for Another “Big Bang” Enlargement?" The debate will take place on Thursday, April 4, from 16:00 to 17:15 h at Prague University of Economics and Business.

Think Visegrad conference - EU Enlargement Forum

April 09, 2024

On 10 and 11 April 2024, Prague will host a two-day conference entitled "20 Years of Reuniting Europe's East and West", organised by EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the Think Visegrad platform and the project (Re)uniting the East and West: Reflections on the 2004 EU enlargement (REWEU) supported by the International Visegrad Fund and the European Commission. The programme will also include the second edition of the EU Enlargement Forum.

e15 | Enlargement of the Schengen area to include Romania and Bulgaria

March 31, 2024

The Schengen area of free movement of goods and persons will was extended to Romania and Bulgaria from Sunday 31 March. The two countries have been waiting seventeen years for this moment, since they joined the European Union. For now, only the maritime and air borders are removed, but land borders should follow in the next few months. Viktor Daněk, deputy director of the EUROPEUM Institute, commented on both the economic benefits and possible risks of partial enlargement for the daily e15.