Should the Common European Asylum System accommodate various degrees of integration? With member states unable to agree on asylum reforms, flexible integration has become a temping alternative. Drawing lessons from the ongoing downgrading of refugee protection in the opt-out country of Denmark, this blog post warns that differentiated integration is not a good solution for the EU asylum policy. more
Last week, Nicole Koenig joined world leaders and security experts at the 55th Munich Security Conference. This policy position summarises her four key takeaways on the EU, transatlantic relations, great power competition and emerging challenges. It lists a range of unanswered questions that will have to be monitored in the course of next year. more
The reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) remains difficult. Recent initiatives by the Commission and a joint position paper from Germany and France sought to provide a new impetus to the negotiations. In this Policy Position, Lucas Rasche argues that there is nevertheless little hope these initiatives can lead to a breakthrough ahead of the European Parliament elections on 23-26. May 2019. more
The EUGS aims at deepening the strategic partnership between the EU and NATO. Security challenges and increasingly hybrid threats emanating from Europe’s neighbourhood underlined the need for a mutually reinforcing and complementary EU–NATO cooperation. The EUGS triggered more systematic cooperation based on seven joint priority areas. The organizations found new and creative ways to circumvent longstanding political blockades. However, these blockades still put a glass ceiling over implementation while transatlantic tensions curtail the strategic nature of this partnership. more
In a row over the disembarkation of migrants rescued at sea, the Italian government has brought the EU’s maritime military Operation Sophia to the verge of collapse. As its current mandate expires on 31 December 2018, Lucas Rasche explores what the trouble about Operation Sophia is really about. more
