European Integration - Heinrich Böll Stiftung

European Union

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Dossier

Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU

On 1 July Belgium took on the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union with a caretaker government in charge. The Belgian elections which had taken place two weeks before were won by the nationalist/regionalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) in Flanders and the Socialists in Wallonia and negotiations on the formation of government will presumably take some time. This should not, however, impact neither the programme nor the efficiency of the presidency. What exactly can be expected from the Belgian EU presidency and how will the interaction be between the presidency and European Council president Herman Van Rompuy?

The Belgian Presidency of the European Union 2010: an outline

Given its traditions as a founder member of the European (Economic) Community and its long standing support of European integration, one can expect the Belgian presidency, in this difficult time of global economic crisis, to implement measures already agreed and develop new ideas for the EU. There are, however, three factors that increasingly limit the rotating presidency’s room for manoeuvre.

Mario Telo more»

The Belgian Presidency of the European Union: a Preview –

During the second half of 2010 Belgium will hold the presidency of the European Union. It will be the twelfth time it has held this role since the start of European integration in the fifties. Despite the decreased importance of the rotating presidency and reassuring words that Belgian diplomats have a great deal of experience in European matters, it is not ideal to begin a presidency with ministers who have resigned. This will be discussed along with some of the paradoxes in Belgium’s European policy.

Hendrik Vos more»

Constitutional Treaty

EU Policy After the Irish No Vote

The EU needs to seriously address its democratic deficit and the disillusionment that many Europeans feel for the Union. Dealing with these issues will surely not be an easy task but it will, without a doubt, enrich European democracy and the very ideals that we stand for and wish to promote in the world. By Claude Weinber and Roderick Kefferpütz more»

Publication

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Controversies of the EU integration process – Published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2008
The publication is in English and Bosnian. See pdf (132 pages, 914 KB).

Study

The Future of the Constitutional Treaty – Ways out of the dead end - How to get the European Constitutional Treaty back on track. By Michaele Schreyer more»