The European Union's solidarity clause: Empty letter or effective tool?
Over seven months since the EU's Lisbon Treaty was ratified, the meaning of its 'Solidarity Clause' remains open to interpretation, write Sara Myrdal and Mark Rhinard of the Swedish Institute for International Affairs. READ MORE
EU says not competing with Russia in eastern neighbourhood
The European Commission assured Moscow that the EU's policy's towards its eastern neighbours is not a form of competition, with Brussels keeping the door open for "project-based" co-operation with Russia. READ MORE
EU-US lawmakers eye new partnership
With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the US Congress is ready to reap the benefits of the European Parliament's strengthened role and renew its ties with legislators in Brussels. READ MORE
Moldova Deputy PM: Transnistria Is A European Problem
With the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union has more capacity and more powerful tools to establish more of a presence and play a more effective role in resolving Transnistria's frozen conflict, Victor Osipov, deputy prime minister of Moldova, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview. READ MORE
Füle: "I'm Enjoying Every Minute Of My Work As Commissioner"
By the end of his term in 2014, Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Štefan Füle hopes to have achieved enough to end talk of "enlargement fatigue" and help EU citizens to see more clearly the benefits of an enlarged Europe. READ MORE
Spain's EU Presidency Greeted With Skepticism
Spain's six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, which began on Jan. 1, 2010, is off to a bumpy start. With the Lisbon Treaty now in effect, the traditional role of the EU rotating presidency has been downgraded. Responsibility for many issues which were once the domain of the rotating presidency now falls to the newly named permanent EU president, Herman Van Rompuy, and EU foreign minister, Catherine Ashton -- who together are supposed to comprise the new "public face" of the EU. READ MORE
Top EU Official Draws Line Between Enlargement, Neighborhood Policies
The first Eastern European to be trusted with a significant foreign-policy role in the European Union went through his confirmation hearing today and stuck closely to the established political consensus within the bloc on future expansion, arguing that all current candidates should be admitted. READ MORE
Eastern Europeans Crave Power In EU Diplomatic Service
The EU's newest member states are under-represented in the bloc's diplomatic service and among senior EU commission officials, Estonian president Toomas Ilves has said, urging the union's new leadership to alter the situation. READ MORE
German-British Rapprochement Would Mean Dark Days For Europe
It is a fact long lamented by those two endangered species, British Germanophiles and German Anglophiles: apart from a few pockets of intense co-operation, such as in justice and home affairs, the potential of a German-British partnership has seldom been exploited in European policy. The political impetus to be generated by the German and UK heads of government moving together in elegant tandem has not been realised. READ MORE
Energy Independence - Common Goal Of The Baltics
Leaders of the three Baltic States, President Dalia Grybauskaitė of Lithuania, President Valdis Zatlers of Latvia, and President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, met in Vilnius today and agreed that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia would stand united in their aspiration towards energy independence and would seek European funding for regional energy projects. READ MORE
