The crisis sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic has overshadowed existing migration debates in Europe, yet is inextricably linked with mobility and movement and its governance within the EU and globally. The current situation reveals the complexities of migration debates, pushing aside current, unearthing old and raising new questions.
Rising case numbers are highlighting how the coronavirus crisis is escalating, both globally and in Germany. Some people have already begun to ask themselves a delicate question: besides the medical and societal challenges brought on by the pandemic, could we also find new forms of cooperation? Might we also take a different approach to other global problems afterwards?
Put together the European Commission, European Parliament, African Embassies, the Overseas Development Institute and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles and you will get a very animated debate – like the one European Think Tanks Group organised in Brussels on the 31st of October.
In this ‘Agenda for Europe in the World’, we share concrete proposals for the new EU leadership, focusing on nine key domains where the EU can make a difference.
After the recent European elections in Italy, a populist leadership is set to be the driver of the Italian European agenda for the next months. These populist forces are destined to play a marginal role in the negotiations over the new Commission as well as the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2017. The growing role of Lega within the Government is expected to have a deep impact on the MFF, with agriculture, cohesion funds, migration and border management likely to become the real priorities for Italy at the expense of the development cooperation and humanitarian assistance.
It may one day be the case that European Parliament elections are fought on a truly pan-territorial basis, with parties, politicians and platforms all operating at a European level. That is not going to happen this year, but there are moves in that direction. The party groups in the European