Europe

The topic “rule of law” and its relevance for the EU integration of the Western Balkans were the focus of this year’s TRAIN Programme. During their four-day visit to Brussels, policy analysts from all the region’s countries had the opportunity to discuss the results of their policy research with representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Secretariat of the Council of EU, and Brussels-based think tanks, among others.

Die Beziehung zwischen Großbritannien und der EU ist seit jeher kompliziert. Die Ankündigung des britischen Premierministers David Cameron, nach einer Wiederwahl 2015 die britische Bevölkerung über den Verbleib des Landes in der EU abstimmen zu lassen, löst im Rest der EU Verunsicherung aus. Eric Bonse, Almut Möller, Tim Oliver und Manuel Sarrazin diskutierten über die Bedeutung Großbritanniens als Teil der EU sowie mögliche Folgen eines Austritts.

Considering events of the past months, what is Germany’s scope of diplomatic action for addressing Russia, both bilaterally and as part of the EU? Thomas Bagger, head of the foreign ministry’s planning team, Manuel Sarrazin, the Green party’s spokesman on European policy, and Stefan Meister, head of the program on Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the DGAP, met to discuss the matter. Their panel inaugurated a series on the future of Germany’s Russian and Eastern European policy.