Jean-Claude Juncker

For several decades, the EU has ignored power politics and concentrated on economic integration. But over the past fifteen years, as authoritarian regimes have come to power in many parts of the world and U.S. leadership has declined, geopolitics has come back with a vengeance. With its weak structures, EU…

The professed desire of many Fine Gael TDs, and some in Fianna Fáil as well, to go into opposition rather than government has turned the normal order of politics on its head but is an understandable response to the mood of the electorate. Attempting to hold a seat as a…

From pricey taxes to endless spending mandates, the cost of “green” pipe dreams knows no bounds. Unfortunately, the European Union (EU) is finding this out the hard way. The cascade of costs began almost one year ago when the then-acting president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, announced that a…

Ursula von der Leyen was an unloved choice to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the European Commission. She emerged from a ferociously contentious process as a last-minute compromise and she promptly fell into a storm of criticism. Even members of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) shellacked her.…

IT’S HARD TO describe last weekend’s election as anything other than one of the most significant in Irish history. The two-party system has been thrown into disarray, and politicians are now left scratching their heads as to how to chart a path forward. The dust isn’t even settled and it’s…

Emmanuel Macron spoke about Europe on second day of the Munich Security Conference   -   Copyright (AP Photo/Jens Meyer) Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday he is ready to lift French opposition to the opening of EU accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia."We are all awaiting a report from the European…

When we hear of political movements in favor of decentralization and secession, the word "nationalist" is often used to describe them. We have seen the word used in both the Scottish and Catalonian secession movements, and in the case of Brexit. Sometimes the term is intended to be pejorative. But…

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Associate membership and other innovations could be used to break the log-jam and the EU’s enlargement fatigue, giving the EU a chance to turn a “historic mistake” into a historic opportunity, writes Manfred Kohler. Manfred Kohler is an official in the European Commission. He is writing in a personal capacity…

BERLIN — As the world unravels around it, Europe is determined to engage beyond its borders. Yet its real problem is what’s happening within them. Increasingly squeezed between the U.S., China and Russia, the Continent has become paralyzed, unable to offer a coherent geopolitical strategy or even speak with one…