News

On Saturday the 29 February Slovakia went to the polls for what is only their eighth general election since their establishment as an independent country from the Czech Republic in 1993.   Background to Slovakian General Elections: Slovakia is a unicameral parliamentary, representative democratic republic with a prime minister who is the head of government…

An International Upbringing: On 1 December 2019, the new European Commission formally took up its mandate where it will chart the political and policy process of the EU for the next five years. For the first time, a woman holds the post as president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, but who is…

Early on the morning of Wednesday 18 December, EU fishery ministers in Brussels reached a political agreement on the 2020 catch limits for over seventy commercial fishing stocks.   Introduction: Why does this happen? The EU aims to set EU-wide rules to manage the fishing practise of the EU fleet through the Common Fisheries Policy…

With the new Finnish prime minister holding the title as the youngest sitting prime minister in the world, this explainer will look at some of young politicians and officials who are shaping policy and politics in the EU today. Introduction: Youth and European Elections One of the unwritten rules of European political campaigns is that…

On Thursday 12 December, the United Kingdom held its third general election since 2015. The Conservative Party will hold an overall majority in the Westminster Parliament, securing 364 seats in Thursday’s general election (with 649 of 650 seats declared), an increase of 47 seats from the 2017 election. The Labour Party will take 203 seats;…

EM Ireland will be inviting guest contributions from Ireland’s leading academics as part of our Just the Facts series, topic dependent, where we are delighted that Prof. John O Brennan is the first of our contributions in this series on the Romanian presidential election. In a widely anticipated result, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has won…

This week’s European Council summit began on Thursday, with leaders first reviewing Brexit, before discussing Turkey and EU enlargement. Focus turned on Friday to the next institutional cycle, the EU budget and climate change. Incoming President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen attended the European Council, in order to outline her priorities for…

On Sunday 13 October Poland went to the polls to elect all 460 members of its lower house of parliament and all 100 senators in what has been a divisive election. Having won an absolute majority in 2015, the first since the restoration of full democracy in 1991, the conservative and Eurosceptic Law and Justice…

On Sunday, 29 September Austria took to the polls to elect 183 members of the 27th National Council. This snap election was called after a corruption scandal that caused the collapse of the previous right-wing coalition government. Introduction Austria is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of nine states. In the Austrian system, the Federal President…

What is the European Commission? Following her election in July, European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen announced her team of commissioners, also known as the College of Commissioners, on Tuesday, 10 September 2019. The European Commission is the executive arm of the European Union. It is the sole EU institution with the right to…

The ‘New EU’ is taking shape in the aftermath of the 2019 European Elections, with a new group of EU leaders emerging to guide the Union through a critical time in its development. The European Commission The European Council proposes nominees for several crucial leadership roles, with criteria laid out by EU treaties. These include…

Following the recent European Parliament Elections in May, Greek Prime Minister, AlexisTsipras, called a snap election after his party, Syriza, suffered a defeat of 9 percentage points to the main opposition, New Democracy, led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The Greek parliamentary elections took place on Sunday, 07 July 2019. Introduction Prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, was defeated…

Sunday, 26 May turned out to be a very eventful day for Belgian politics. Not only did the Belgian electorate select 21 MEPs to represent them in the European Parliament, but voters also took to the polls to elect regional and federal parliaments. Introduction Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with elections taking place every…

Introduction  On Friday, 8 March, just one month before Finland’s Parliamentary Elections, Finland’s coalition government collapsed. Prime Minister, Juha Sipilä announced his resignation taking the blame for his government’s inability to reform Finland’s health care and social systems. With one of the most rapidly ageing populations in the world, reform of its health system has…

Brexit has become a journey as much as a destination. At their emergency summit in Brussels this week, the UK and the 27 remaining EU governments agreed to delay Brexit – for a second time – until 31 October (with some caveats).   This new extension means that the Brexit journey now resembles travelling on a…

The Slovakian electorate went to the polls over two rounds in March to elect Slovakia’s 5th President since gaining independence in 1993. On Saturday, 30 March Zuzana Čaputová became the country’s first ever female president.   Background Slovakia is a parliamentary republic with a prime minister, who holds most executive powers, and a president, who…

The UK House of Commons has voted overwhelmingly to delay Brexit. The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 but last night, Thursday 14 March, MPs voted by a hefty majority of 413 to 202 in favour of the UK seeking an extension of the article 50-based Brexit negotiations with the…

On 6 February, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs (OJCEA) met with the Director of Eurofound Juan Menéndez-Valdés to discuss that agency’s social research findings on Ireland in comparison to EU Member States and five candidate countries.  Eurofound is an EU research agency, based in Dublin, working on developing better social, employment and work-related…

On 1 January, Romania took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Austria, marking the first time Romania has held the Presidency since joining the EU in 2007.  In 2009, the Lisbon Treaty established a system whereby a trio of Member States consecutively hold the Presidency, working together on long-term…

On Sunday, 25 November, EU27 leaders met in Brussels for a special meeting of the European Council to endorse the draft withdrawal agreement reached between EU and UK negotiators on 14 November. EU27 leaders also approved the political declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the EU and the UK.  Background On…

On 14 November 2018, it was announced that EU and UK negotiators had reached decisive progress on the text of the draft withdrawal agreement, which was resultantly published by both sides.  The draft withdrawal agreement outlines the terms by which the UK will leave the EU. What is it? The withdrawal agreement sets out the…

The College of Europe is an independent university institute of postgraduate European studies with campuses in Bruges and Natolin.  Online applications for the 2019-2020 academic year are now being invited.  If you wish to apply, submit your complete application before the deadline of Wednesday, 16 January 2019. History The College of Europe was the world’s…

What is the Common Travel Area? The Common Travel Area (CTA) is an open borders area comprising the UK (including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) and Ireland. Within the CTA, Irish and British citizens can travel freely with minimal controls at borders.  The CTA tends to be associated as well with the ‘special…

Luxembourg General Election Luxembourg went to the polls on Sunday, 14 October to elect a new Parliament, known as the ‘Chambre des députés’, or Chamber of Deputies.  While the centre-right Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) won the most seats as a single party with 21 seats, the current centre-left coalition government made up of the…

Latvian General Election The Latvian electorate went to the polls on Saturday, 6 October to elect a new Parliament, known as the ‘Saeima’. Seven political parties secured enough votes to take seats in Parliament, with the Social Democratic Party, ‘Harmony’, topping the polls with 19.8 per cent of the vote. Coalition negotiations are expected to…

State of the European Union Address President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, delivered his fourth and final annual ‘State of the European Union’ address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 12 September 2018. The forward-looking speech, entitled ‘The Hour of European Sovereignty’, set out the priorities of the European Commission for the last…

Swedish General Election The Swedish electorate went to the polls on Sunday, 9 September to elect a new Parliament. Sweden traditionally has a high voter turnout, and this year was no different at 84.4 per cent. Preliminary results show that the electorate has returned a hung Parliament, with no outright winner. Official results will be…

UK White Paper on Legislating for the Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union On Tuesday, 24 July, the UK government released a White Paper on Legislating for the Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU). It sets out the UK government’s plans for the withdrawal legislation…

What is the UK White Paper? On Thursday, 12 July, the UK government published a 98-page White Paper outlining its proposals for the future relationship between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) after the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019. The White Paper covers areas such as the future EU-UK economic relationship,…

The United Nations defines migrants as people who choose to move to another country mainly to improve their lives by finding work, or in some cases for education, family reunion, or other reasons.  Refugees, on the other hand, are defined as fleeing armed conflict or persecution and cannot return home because it is too dangerous. …

Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union On 1 July, Austria took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Bulgaria, marking the third time Austria has held the Presidency since joining the EU in 1995. In 2009, the Lisbon Treaty established a system whereby a trio of Member States consecutively…

European Council Summit On Thursday, 28 June, the European Council met in Brussels to discuss a wide range of issues including migration, security and defence, jobs, growth and competitiveness. On Friday, 29 June, EU leaders met in an EU27 format to discuss the Brexit negotiations. EU27 leaders also met for a Euro Summit to discuss reform of the Economic and Monetary Union. Migration The…

What is the EU Withdrawal Bill? The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is currently being debated in the UK Houses of Parliament.  Effectively, it seeks to copy EU law into UK law, meaning that after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, all EU legislation would remain in force as domestic legislation, unless it is amended or…

Slovenian General Election The Slovenian electorate went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new Parliament. 25 political parties contested the election, with nine expected to have secured enough votes to be elected. Provisional results show the conservative Slovenian Democratic Party emerging as the largest party with 24.9 per cent of the vote. As…

On Friday, 25 May 2018, a new EU Regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), relating to the protection of citizens’ right to privacy, and the modernisation of data protection laws in the EU, came into effect.  The GDPR aims to give individuals greater control over how their personal data are processed and used.   …

On Thursday, 17 May, EU leaders and the leaders of the six Western Balkan partners (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) met in Sofia, Bulgaria.  Security and connectivity were the themes of this first EU-Western Balkans Summit since 2003.  EU Member State leaders also discussed other issues,…

The Hungarian electorate went to the polls on Sunday, 8 April to elect a new Parliament.  Sunday’s election saw a high voter turnout and with 98 per cent of results reported, Fidesz-KDNP are expected to be elected for a third consecutive term in office and achieve a two-thirds majority in Parliament.   Background The Hungarian…

The Italian electorate went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new Parliament made up of the Chamber of Deputies (Lower House) and the Senate (Upper House).  The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) had been in power since the last general election in February 2013.  The anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) are set to emerge…

On Friday, 23 February 2018, the European Council met in Brussels at an informal meeting to discuss the EU’s long-term budgetary plans and Institutional issues.  Brexit, relations with Turkey, and Syria were also discussed.  The meeting took place under the Leaders’ Agenda and as the discussions were future-orientated, leaders met in an EU27 format without…

Presidential elections took place in the Republic of Cyprus over the course of two rounds of voting, with the first round taking place on 28 January 2018.  Nine candidates stood for election, including the incumbent President, Nicos Anastasiades.  Voters went to the polls once again in the run-off on Sunday, 4 February, re-electing President Anastasiades…

Presidential elections were held in Finland on Sunday, 28 January 2018, with eight candidates contesting the election.  Finnish President, Sauli Niinistö, was re-elected for a second term as President.  For the first time since 1994, there was no second round run-off as President Niinistö secured more than 50 per cent of the first round vote…

Presidential elections took place in the Czech Republic over two rounds of voting, which took place on 12-13 and 26-27 January.  Nine candidates stood for election, including the incumbent President, Miloš Zeman, who was re-elected for a second term in office.   Background The President of the Czech Republic is elected every five years, using…

On 1 January, the Republic of Bulgaria took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Estonia, marking the first time Bulgaria has held the Presidency since joining the EU in 2007.  In 2009, the Lisbon Treaty established a system whereby a trio of Member States consecutively hold the Presidency, working…

On Thursday 15 June, a new EU Regulation relating to roaming charges for mobile phone users within the European Union (EU) and the wider European Economic Area (EEA) came into effect which largely abolishes roaming charges.  This follows a number of previous EU Regulations aimed at reducing roaming charges.  The new ‘roam like at home’…

A parliamentary election took place in the United Kingdom (UK) on Thursday, 8 June 2017.  The Conservative Party had held a majority since the previous election in May 2015.  Conservative Party leader, Theresa May, served as Prime Minister since July 2016 following the resignation of former Prime Minister David Cameron after the UK’s vote to…

On Saturday 29 April 2017, the EU27 leaders met in Brussels for a Special European Council where they adopted guidelines for the Article 50 negotiations on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.  The guidelines outline the framework for the negotiations, setting out the broad EU principles for the talks, which will be conducted…

On Saturday 25 March 2017, the leaders of 27 EU Member States met in Rome, Italy, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.  At the ceremony, EU leaders adopted the Rome Declaration on the future of Europe in which they pledged to make the EU “stronger and more resilient, through even greater…

Elections took place in the European Parliament on Tuesday, 17 January 2017 to replace the outgoing President, Martin Schulz.  President Schulz, a member of the Socialists and Democrats group, had held the position since January 2012.  Antonio Tajani of the European People’s Party group was elected as the 30th President of the European Parliament and…

At the Paris climate conference in December 2015, 197 Parties, including Ireland and the EU, agreed the first universal, legally binding climate deal.  The Agreement sets out a global action plan to avoid the adverse effects of climate change by limiting global warming to below 2˚C.  The EU ratified the Agreement on 5 October 2016…