The EU is by nature a slow and heavy animal, with lengthy digestion times. Its inner workings are driven to a large extent by lengthy negotiations and bureaucratic process among the (soon) 27 member states, rather than by grand strategy, political ambition and agile reaction to global shifts. Divergences among the member states have grown over the past years, which has led to stalemate in various policy fields. Think-tankers, policy makers and other actors have put ample ideas on the table to advance European policy-making, but compelling arguments and fresh ideas all too often fall through the cracks due to a lack of political leadership and the capacity to build consensus around new initiatives.
In order to bring together new policy thinking and member states’ perspectives, the GlobalFocus Center, the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and the Romanian EU Council Presidency have convened a high-level group of knowledgeable experts from top think-tanks across the EU. This group was carefully selected to be geographically representative for all member states and reflective of the multiplicity and variety of viewpoints within the EU. Building on the shared vision that the European Union is stronger together, we initiated a platform for dialogue between the expert community and decision-makers. The first result is a series of implementable policy proposals for the incoming EU leadership, providing new impetus for its strategic priorities.
As the kick-off event, our seminar “Bridging EU Council presidencies – from Bucharest to Berlin” took place June 3-4, 2019 in Bucharest, taking stock of the previous Sibiu Summit on the Future of Europe and the results of elections to the European Parliament. Its proceedings brought fresh and concise input to seven policy memos authored by the participants. These memos analyse the state of play and chart possible ways forward with regard to:
- The EU in a new international order. Thoughts on Europe,
- Trump and Sino‑American competition;
- The EU and the Balkans: going beyond the enlargement agenda;
- Migration, borders and integration;
- Europe and the hybrid threats conundrum: the case of manipulation of information;
- Economy in flux: digitisation, energy security, climate change;
- The eurozone – a still unfinished business;
- Europe 2030. A strategic framework to make populism obsolete.
The guiding idea for each memo was not only to look out for new policy ideas, but also to establish the panorama of member states’ preferences and reach an understanding of the key contentious points we need to tackle if the EU is to move forward. Authors were asked to address their country's positions on the respective topics, identify allies and opponents, and explore ways to get to a common position or compromise.
Yet, we did not aim for a single, ultimate joint vision that all of the participants and organisers could subscribe to. Instead, the proposed solutions have emerged from the (sometimes heated!) negotiations of different and even diverging perspectives, and they represent merely a base for the beginning - rather than the end - of the conversation.
We are extremely grateful to all participants for their effort and contribution, and especially to the authors. Our sincere thanks go to Constantinos Adamides, Kristof Bender, Benjamin Bodson, Thanos Dokos, Peter Grk, Vladimir Isăilă, Domagoj Juričić, Rem Korteweg, Ana Maria Luca, Octavian Manea, Alexandra Martin, Victor Micula, Hedvig Morvai, Christian Odendahl, Sebastian Płóciennik, Jana Puglierin, Jonas Richter, Chiara Rosselli, Dani Sandu, Senada Šelo Šabić, Daniel Stefanov, Federico Steinberg, Corina Stratulat, Fabrizio Tassinari, Ana Teaca, Elie Tennenbaum, Dmitri Teperik, and Stefani Weiss.
The project benefited from the generous support of the Black Sea Trust of the German
Marshall Fund, which is gratefully acknowledged.