The USA's departure from the principles of the liberal international order and the transatlantic partnership is a turning point. This is reflected in the choice of topics in the new integration:
Sandra Eckert looks at European economic policy and discusses the question of whether the EU has the potential to become a geo-economic power. Other articles also deal with the effects of the new geopolitical situation: Nicolai von Ondarza addresses the question of whether a rapprochement of the United Kingdom with the EU's Common Defence and Security Policy is possible. In the forum section, Wiebke Stimming looks at the role of the Baltic Sea region as a possible source of inspiration for Europe's strategic autonomy.
The tense geopolitical situation also lends new urgency to the defence of European values. In their article, York Albrecht and Maria Skóra analyse the conditions for rule of law resilience in the EU member states and discuss their impact on the resilience of democracy. Sonja Grimm and Karin Göldner-Ebenthal analyse behavioural, institutional and structural blockages to democracy promotion in the European neighbourhood.
The new EU legislature is also a topic in the forum section. Eva Heidbreder sheds light on the upcoming major negotiation issues in the EU. Martin Larch analyses the extent to which the Stability and Growth Pact reformed in 2024 is actually an innovation and whether it can finally unite stability and growth.
Finally, Domenica Dreyer-Plum reports on a conference on the development of the European legal community on 24 and 25 October 2024 in Bonn.
The geoeconomic turn and the Single European Market: implications for policymaking and doing business
Sandra Eckert
The European Union (EU) as a key actor in international economic and trade policy is facing new challenges in the era of geopolitics. Acknowledging this altered context, the article makes three contributions: First, it conceptualises what can be understood as a geoeconomic turn of the international economic order, and examines the extent to which policy measures adopted by the EU over the past years qualify as geoeconomic. Second, it discusses the role of business actors as supporters and opponents of reorienting economic policy based on the concept of business power. Third, it questions whether the EU, genuinely understood as a market and regulatory power, can become a geoeconomic power and what the implications of a geoeconomic turn would be for the EU as an international actor. The analysis shows that, since 2017, the EU has been increasingly pursuing a geoeconomic agenda partially supported by business actors, and that the EU has the potential to become a geoeconomic power.
A permanent farewell? The United Kingdom and the European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy
Nicolai von Ondarza
This article examines the structural challenges hindering institutionalised security and defence cooperation between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) post-Brexit. At the end of the tumultuous Brexit process, the UK under Boris Johnson severed all formal ties with the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The article shows a complex dynamic of disintegration, readjustment, cautious rapprochement and persisting structural barriers. The combination of EU third-country rules restricting UK participation in CSDP operations, defence-industrial initiatives, and decision-making bodies, together with the UK’s decision to rule out any return to the single market, lead to a long-term lock-out of deeper security and defence cooperation. Despite the Labour government’s ambition of an EU-UK security pact and mutual interests in addressing shared threats, the article concludes that high political costs stand in the way of a return to deep institutional cooperation.
Resilience put in practice: evidence from the EU-27
York Albrecht and Maria Skóra
Liberal democracy is under massive pressure worldwide due to the transformation of party systems, economic and welfare state models, and disruptions to the global power structure. In view of these internal and external disruptors, research is increasingly focusing on the resilience of the rule of law as a basic condition of liberal democratic systems. In addition to the quantitative assessment of rule of law resilience through indices, concrete practices that contribute to greater resilience of the rule of law are also relevant in view of the diverse challenges facing liberal democratic systems. The aim of this article is therefore to provide a qualitative basis for the quantitative assessment of the quality of the rule of law. Based on country-specific reports from the EU-27, the article identifies concrete so-called “practices of resilience” that can contribute to the resilience of the rule of law.
European Union democracy promotion: analysis of behavioural, institutional and structural blockages
Sonja Grimm and Katrin Göldner-Ebenthal
The European Union promotes democratisation in the European neighbourhood. Despite this policy, however, the region is characterised by de-democratisation and autocratisation. The authors explain this by behavioural, institutional and structural blockages that can be found in the European neighbourhood. New actors such as China and Russia also offer promising non-democratic alternatives to the liberal model of democracy. They form coalitions with political actors unwilling to democratise and thus undermine European democracy promotion.
Reform of European Fiscal Rules: Stability and growth finally united?
Martin Larch
The 2024 reform of the Stability and Growth Pact promises nothing less than a radical reset of European fiscal policymaking. Aimed at addressing the mounting debt burdens of certain member states of the European Union, the reform emphasizes greater national ownership and less uniform adjustment requirements. National governments will have a bigger say in how they define and achieve their fiscal goals and will be granted more time if they implement investments and reforms. However, the governance structure, which has previously complicated the enforcement of rules, remains largely unchanged. The latest reform presents both opportunities and risks.
The European Union in the new legislature: many knowns, even more unknowns
Eva G. Heidbreder
The European Union (EU) faces numerous challenges for the electoral cycle 2024–2029. In face of a drastically changed global environment, the leadership at the helm of the Union’s key institutions has defined the European agenda accordingly. Central ambitions circle around decarbonised competitive-ness, boosting innovation, and strengthening security, defined as widely as possible. Whether these ambitions will be met by decisive joint decisions and whether such decisions will be backed by the considerable fiscal means needed, is crucial for Europe’s future. In an increasingly contested Union, the ability of the member states’ governments to build a common political will around the political options on the table, as well as the outcome of the upcoming negotiations on the seven-year budget of the EU remain open. This puts also high demands on the domestic definition of tangible positions and forward-looking European goals to construct strongly needed agreement on the European level.
The Baltic region – driving force for European strategic autonomy?
Wiebke Stimming
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed the European security architecture, leading to previously unthinkable reactions in Central and Eastern Europe. Due to their geographical and historical proximity to Russia, the countries around the Baltic Sea reacted decisively to the altered security situation and changed course. In Germany, Chancellor Olaf Scholz proclaimed the so-called Zeitenwende in security and defence policy. Sweden and Finland joined NATO and Denmark abolished its opt-out clause in the Common Security and Defence Policy. To ensure that European states can continue to guarantee their security in the future, the question arises which impulse the Baltic Sea region can contribute to Europe's strategic autonomy. This article focuses on two aspects of autonomy: strategic defence autonomy and the resilience of critical infrastructure. Initiatives in the Baltic Sea region to improve autonomy are examined, and, thus, the region’s leadership potential at the European Union level is highlighted.
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