Debate on the future of the European Union (EU)
The IEP emphasizes the establishment and development of a system of rules for European governance (structure, institutions and EU treaty reforms). Current reform debates, especially those regarding treaty reforms, as well as long-term trends of European integration are analysed and evaluated by interdisciplinary means and from many different perspectives
current projects
In the face of the ongoing economic, monetary and financial crisis in Europe, citizens, politicians and academics increasingly discuss the costs of the European Union. The value of Europe, however, seems to remain unrecognized within this discussion. As a consequence, the IEP sets out to contribute to this debate by focusing on Europe`s value from a broader perspective, thereby launching a study, several events and publications in order to reach a wider public.Despite many success stories of the European Union, the revived resentments against the EU are difficult to overcome and raise the fear that this might lead to a split of the Community in near future. Given the current circumstances, it is necessary to conduct a study which analyses both the benefits of the European Union and the costs that the citizens have to pay in order to be a member of it. “What are the costs of Europe – what is its value?” – this is the theme that shall guide a number of small projects launched by the IEP that intend to enhance the public debate on Europe’s value.
European Citizens’ Initiative
European Citizens’ Initiative: great expectations – extensive scepticism
Since 1 April 2012 all European citizens maintain a new EU citizenship right: the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). 1 Million European citizens own the right to invite the European Commission to submit a proposal on matters where citizens consider that a legal act of the Union is required for the purpose of implementing the Treaty. The IEP accompanies the establishment of this new instrument of participative democracy as part of the implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon on an academic level.
As an instrument of participative democracy, the ECI offers the opportunity to expedite democracy in the EU. The IEP, thereby, deals with new fields of research focusing on the EU’s potential to initiate transnational discursive spheres and to include new actors and citizens in EU decision-making processes. The ECI is, at the same time, accompanied by extensive scepticism of the civil society regarding its implementation. According to the upcoming evaluation of the ECI regulations in 2015, questions concerning the implementation are topic to the IEP, as well.
Zur Zukunft der EU. Eine Bestandsaufnahme der aktuellen politischen und wissenschaftlichen Debatte zu Reformvorschlägen
Cyril Gläser, M.A. / Jean Monnet Lehrstuhl für Politikwissenschaft, Universität zu Köln (Stand: 17. Dezember 2012)
The European Union and Central Asia in the International System (EUCAIS)
Online Master EUCAIS
The Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP) and the Centre international de formation européenne (CIFE) offer an Online Master Study Programme in "The European Union and Central Asia in the International System" (EUCAIS).
The Online Master Programme receives significant funding from the VolkswagenFoundation. The programme is open to post-graduates and young professionals from Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan and the Chinese Province of Xinjiang).
More information is available here:
Study Programme on European Security (SPES)
The Study Programme on European Security (SPES) for PhD students, post-docs and young professionals from Central and Eastern Europe is conducted by the Institut für Europäische Politik (IEP) and supported by the Volkswagen Foundation.
The programme is aimed at promoting the work of young academics and experts from Central and Eastern Europe with a thematic focus on the future role of the EU in European and global security policy. The programme provides an opportunity for the grantholders to establish stronger links with "West European" research networks and to present their views concerning security issues in Europe.
9 fellows - ranging from excellent PhD candidates to junior professors or professionals of similar qualification " have been selected and will receive support for their research, the publication of their results and sojourns in Berlin.
More information is available here:
EU-27 Watch
Starting with the issue 9th of EU-27 Watch, the internet platform 
www.eu-27Watch.org provides the reader with new functions making it easier to access the reports. Laid out in four segments, the platform provides the reader with a comparative introduction, a list of responses sorted by country, a list of responses sorted by question, and a timeline listing all major events in EU politics since 2004. All texts are available in HTML and PDF format. All back issues of the EU-27 Watch and the Enlargement/Agenda 2000-Watch are available as well.
Concept
Since 2004 the EU-27 Watch has provided a rich and unique set of material compiling national debates on European policy. The key objective of the EU-27 Watch is to follow national debates concerning EU deepening and widening. Based on event-driven questionnaires researchers from established research institutes write the country reports.
Additionally, each issue contains an introductory chapter, which gives an overview on the subjects dealt with, and a chronology of the main events during the reporting period. The annotations in the country reports give easy access to important documents, commentaries, and literature published in the reporting countries.
Between 1998 and 2003, the predecessor of the EU-27 Watch, the Enlargement/Agenda 2000-Watch, monitored the accession and negotiation process as well as the internal reform process, known as Agenda 2000. Thus the EU-27 Watch has been monitoring debates on EU-policy for 12 years and provides a unique source for diachronic analyses.
Partners
The EU-27 Watch No. 9 receives significant funding from the Otto Wolff-Foundation, Cologne, in the framework of the "Dialog Europa der Otto Wolff-Stiftung" and financial support from the European Commission. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Contact
Contact persons are Dr. Katrin Böttger and Julian Plottka with Christoph Kornes, Daniela Caterina, Gregory Kohler and Matthias Jäger belonging to the editorial staff. Institutes/authors are responsible for the content of their country reports.
