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The EU-MENA partnership: time for a reset. Egmont Security Policy Brief No. 135 February 2021.
Get PDFThe storm raging across the Southern Neighbourhood, as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is also known in European terminology, is not about to subside any time soon. Beyond crisis management, current dysfunctions need a long-term, sustained and transformative approach. That was the spirit of the Barcelona Declaration and the original concept of the European neighbourhood policy. Obviously, it didn’t work as expected. The question is why, and how to put the train back on the tracks
Renewable energy communities in the European energy policy: an evidence of clean energy for all Europeans, not by all. Egmont Paper 111 28 January 2021.
Get PDFIn 2016, the European Commission recognized the role of renewable energy communities (RECs) in the Clean Energy Package (CEP). This package has been accompanied by a narrative of citizen empowerment while the EU energy and climate governance since the Paris Agreement has become more polycentric, seeking to further include non-state actors in the fight against climate change.
This policy paper takes the opportunity of these evolutions to present RECs and the concepts of polycentric governance and empowerment based on existing scientific literature. It combines these two concepts to analyse the evolution of the renewable energy governance of the EU through the CEP. The analysis is conducted in a reflexive manner that sheds light on the analytical inputs and limits of these concepts. More particularly, it pinpoints the limits of the EU interpretation of empowerment and polycentricity, namely by exploring the place given to RECs and their struggle with energy incumbents. In a nutshell, this paper considers both the outcome of the CEP and what it tells about the renewable energy governance of the EU itself.
Ultimately, it provides with recommendations for a future revision of the renewable energy policy of the European Union as well as for the coming transposition of the measures that were delivered by the CEP
Protest suspended – Belarusian society one year after the presidential elections. OSW Commentary Number 401 3.08.2021.
Get PDFThe progressive decline in living standards in Belarus and the authorities' dismissive attitude towards the COVID-19 pandemic have intensified public disillusionment with Alyaksandr Lukashenka. This led to an increase in the civic activity of Belarusians – previously seen as passive – in the campaign prior to the presidential election on 9 August last year. The revival of social life was accompanied by a growing national consciousness. Both processes mostly concerned the relations between the authorities and civil society, and to a lesser extent the geopolitical orientation, although later polls revealed the first signs of waning trust in Russia and a greater openness towards the West. The forged results of the vote this time gave rise to unprecedented protests, and the violent reaction by law enforcement only fuelled greater resistance among citizens. The lack of concessions shown by the authorities and the weariness of the demonstrators resulted in the demonstrations being brought to a halt at the end of 2020. At the same time, the authorities started to systemically and thoroughly eliminate independent media and third sector structures to discourage citizens from any manifestations of opposition. Despite the use of instruments characteristic of a totalitarian regime, there are numerous indications that the grievances have not been permanently suppressed. The Belarusian citizens who opposed the authorities last year mostly retained their pro-democratic views and aspirations to structure the state according to the Western model. They will rise rapidly to greater prominence as the oppressive regime backed by Russia continues to lose its credibility
Tell me more: Russia on Macron’s détente initiatives. OSW Point of View Number 83 Warsaw March 2021.
Get PDFFrench President Emmanuel Macron has proclaimed the need to engage in dialogue with Russia and work with it to build an architecture of trust and security in Europe; he has managed to partially revive the channels of communication (especially in the political sphere) between the two countries, and also to deepen and intensify it (mainly on the issues of regional conflicts and advanced technology). Macron has also tried to give this policy a European dimension. However, there has been no positive breakthrough in bilateral relations, and talks have failed to produce significant results. This is due to the attitude of Moscow, which has welcomed the initiatives of the French president, but at the same time has not made his efforts any easier, as it hopes to be able to exploit the divisions within the Western community. Instead it has continued its aggressive foreign policy, with no intention of making concessions in order to normalise relations. Paris’s unwillingness to violate solidarity with its allies, together with its continued participation in the sanctions against Russia, have led to growing exasperation in the Kremlin. Despite this, it appears that Macron will not abandon his attempts to bring about détente in relations with Moscow, which is likely to maintain a passive-reactive attitude towards his efforts
The non-strategic partnership: Belarus-China relations. OSW Studies Number 81 Warsaw January 2021.
Get PDFRelations between China and Belarus have been developing intensively over the past decade. This process has been fuelled by Beijing’s growing global ambitions as well as Minsk’s efforts to modernise the Belarusian economy and to partially reduce its dependence on Moscow. Given China’s great economic potential and desire to develop cooperation, it became the main non-European partner for Minsk at the beginning of the 21st century. Beijing decided to use Minsk’s great openness to cooperation and turned Belarus into an important laboratory for the Belt and Road Initiative, which was presented as one of the greatest successes of Xi Jinping’s flagship project. However, the two sides had quite different expectations as to the principles of their cooperation. In turn, the extremely ambitious visions were not filled with real content. The development of relations with China has not led to a structural transformation of the Belarusian economy. Instead, its trade deficit and foreign debt have increased. As a result, along with the growing disappointment with cooperation with Minsk, the Chinese administration and experts are again showing increasing interest in Ukraine, which is considered a much more attractive economic partner
Biometric technologies at work: a proposed use-based taxonomy. Bruegel Policy Contribution Issue n ̊23/21 | November 2021.
Get PDFBiometric technologies have in principle the potential to significantly improve worker productivity, security and safety. However, they are also a source of new risks, including exposure to potential personal data abuse or the psychological distress caused by permanent monitoring. The European Union lacks a coherent regulatory framework on the mitigation of risks arising from the use of biometric technologies in the workplace.
We propose a taxonomy to underpin the use of artificial intelligence-powered biometric technologies in the workplace. Technologies can be classified into four broad categories based on their main function: (1) security, (2) recruitment, (3) monitoring, (4) safety and well-being. We identify the benefits and risks linked to each category.
To be more effective, EU regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace should integrate more detail on technology use. It should also address the current scarcity of granular data by sourcing information from users of AI technologies, not only providers.
There is an untapped potential for technology to address workplace health hazards. Policymakers should design incentive mechanisms to encourage adoption of the technologies with the greatest potential to benefit workers.
Artificial intelligence users, in particular bigger companies, should be required to assess the effect of AI adoption on work processes, with the active participation of their workforces
Making European Policies Work – Multilevel Administration and Policy Integration. EIPA Paper October 2021.
Get PDFBetter implementation of EU policies depends not only on the capacity and commitment of individual Member States, but also on the adequacy of the overall arrangements for ‘multilevel administration’ through which these policies are managed. These arrangements have been evolving, in a few cases towards stronger EU roles in enforcement, but more through EU actions to help harmonise national implementation, deepen administrative cooperation and support capacity-building. As a result, there is increasing EU involvement in shaping public administration, traditionally a sovereign preserve of the Member States, as part of deeper administrative ‘integration‘ in some sectors, as well as through programmes of support for reform and recovery linked to recommendations. This makes it all the more important that decisions about multilevel arrangements are debated broadly and openly as a reasoned distribution of capacities and sharing of responsibilities for achieving common overarching goals
Sandboxes for Responsible Artificial Intelligence. EIPA Briefing September 2021.
Get PDFKeeping up with the pace of technological developments and innovation is a challenge for lawmakers in Europe. As a result, new approaches are being explored in order to address the perception that law-making lags behind technological innovation, or even obstructs its development.1
One of the most disruptive and promising technologies is artificial intelligence (AI). The possibilities to use AI to improve various processes in health, businesses or the public sector seem unlimited, but AI also raises concerns with respect to data protection and fundamental rights.
As AI technologies became more and more prominent, the European Commission developed an AI Strategy, published in 2018. The centrepiece is the proposal for an AI Regulation (Artificial Intelligence Act Proposal) submitted in April 2021.
One of the novelties introduced by this proposal is the creation of AI ‘regulatory sandboxes’. This Briefing will explain what regulatory sandboxes are, and how they fit within the concept of ‘legally disruptive experimentation’. It also asks whether the regulatory sandboxes may themselves pose challenges regarding personal data protection in the context of the AI Act Proposal and its possible loopholes
Beyond the Trade and Technology Council: National security concerns are changing how policymakers view the global economy. EPC Commentary 13/10/2021.
Get PDFThe policymakers overseeing globalisation are facing a new range of national security and resilience pressures that are fundamentally reshaping how they interact with a globalised private sector.
The inaugural meeting of the EU–US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) on 28 September was marked by transatlantic drama over AUKUS, the trilateral defence partnership between Australia, the UK and the US. But its first communique met more muted reactions, as it is long on areas for discussion and future cooperation and short on concrete deliverables.
Whether its working groups deliver on its promise of reinvigorated transatlantic relationship or follow the ignominious fate of the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC) will become clearer at its next meeting. However, in its language and topics of focus, the TTC is illustrative of a broader shift in the relationship between most governments and the global economic system, driven by the combined impact of COVID-19, the rise of great power competition and renewed domestic turn towards industrial policy
After Merkel: Where will Germany stand in Europe? EPC Commentary 22/07/2021.
Get PDFWhoever follows Angela Merkel in the German Chancellery will have big shoes to fill. Her successor must build on her strengths – her statesmanship and crisis management skills – while making up for her most significant weakness – the lack of a strategic and ambitious vision for Europe