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2023 and 2024 Commission reports on Türkiye
Türkiye has long been a strategic partner of the EU on migration, security, and trade. However, following the attempted coup in 2016, Türkiye's democratic backsliding led the Council to freeze its accession negotiations in 2018. Although relations have since thawed, the EU is exploring a more realistic framework for bilateral relations. ºÏ·¨²©²ÊÍøÕ¾'s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) adopted its report on the 2023 and 2024 Commission reports on Türkiye on 9 April 2025. A debate and vote on the report ...
European ºÏ·¨²©²ÊÍøÕ¾ diplomacy and the end of the Cold War: The integration of central and eastern European countries
ºÏ·¨²©²ÊÍøÕ¾ played a fundamental role in reshaping the political landscape of central and eastern Europe during and after the end of the Cold War, setting out an agenda for European enlargement and substantiating European integration. Amid an atmosphere that signalled the triumph of democratic state-building in Europe, Members of the European ºÏ·¨²©²ÊÍøÕ¾ also saw an opportunity to advance their own agenda of further democratising and legitimising the governance structures of the European ...
European Peace Facility – For Ukraine, but not only
The European Peace Facility (EPF) was created in March 2021 as a funding instrument aimed at enhancing the EU's ability to prevent conflicts, build and preserve peace, and strengthen international security and stability. The EPF rests on two pillars. The first is to fund EU military operations and missions under the common foreign and security policy. The second is to provide assistance to countries in the EU's eastern neighbourhood, the Middle East and Africa to strengthen security in their respective ...
EU-UK trade flows: Continuities, changes and trends
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) between the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK), which entered into force in May 2021, governs the EU's relationship with the UK, following its withdrawal from the EU. In addition to the European Commission evaluating the implementation of the TCA on an annual basis, Article 776 of the TCA provides for a joint review of the deal's implementation five years after its entry into force, in 2026. On 20 November 2024, the European ºÏ·¨²©²ÊÍøÕ¾'s Conference ...
Canada ahead of the 2025 election: Navigating a complex geopolitical landscape
Following increasing pressure from members of his own party and a period of low opinion poll ratings, Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau announced his resignation from the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada on 6 January 2025. Mark Carney, his successor as prime minister of Canada, and new leader of the Liberal Party, has called a snap parliamentary election for 28 April. This year's election will mark a decade of Liberal Party rule in Canada, a period with significant political, economic ...
State of play: EU support to Ukraine - Payments, reform and investment, use of immobilised Russian assets
Since the start of Russia's full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union has provided Ukraine with financial, military and humanitarian support on an unprecedented level. To date, the support to Ukraine from 'Team Europe' – comprising the EU and its Member States – amounts to €143 billion. This support includes macro-financial assistance, financial support through the Ukraine Facility, humanitarian aid and military assistance from Member States and through the ...
Following the United Kingdom's referendum on its European Union membership, in June 2016, and the UK's decision to leave the EU, a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) was signed between the EU and the UK, in 2020. The TCA, in force since 2021, provides the framework for relations between the EU and the UK. In 2025, the European ºÏ·¨²©²ÊÍøÕ¾ will adopt – as it did in 2023 – a report on the implementation of the TCA, this time covering the period between January and December 2024. The report will follow ...
ºÏ·¨²©²ÊÍøÕ¾ in EU external action
Based on its Treaties, the European Union (EU) has developed a multifaceted external action policy, and is seen as an important actor far beyond its borders. Through its institutions and Member States, the EU is active in international trade, humanitarian assistance, economic, financial, and technical and development cooperation, as well as through its common foreign and security policy (CFSP) and common security and defence policy (CSDP). Increasingly, the external dimension of internal EU policies ...
EU capabilities in space: Scenarios for space security by 2050
Space holds promise for both economic prosperity and the attainment of strategic goals. The EU's future role in space is contingent on fast-changing geopolitical dynamics, which can range from peaceful cooperation to heightened competition or conflict among global powers. Given the importance of this subject, the European Commission has announced plans to propose an EU space act in the second quarter of 2025. This paper aims to describe the geopolitical context of space activities that affect the ...
The future of rare earths mining in Ukraine
The US Trump administration has set its sights on Ukraine's vast mineral resources, and proposed a deal: to secure a portion of Ukraine's rare earths in exchange for US support in the war against the Russian aggressor. Ukraine is a candidate for EU membership, and an earlier 2021 strategic partnership means the EU also has a stake in the future of Ukraine's mineral sector. This briefing analyses the US and EU positions, to shed light on the potential future of rare earth mining in Ukraine.