Friends of Europe | Future of Europe

	Trustees speak out	• • •
France and Greece vote - Good and bad news for democracy
By Robert Cox François Hollande and fellow European leaders must concede that austerity on its own leads nowhere. For now, they only offer often confused theories about more infrastructure, freer labour markets, boosts for SMEs and bank lending etc. Read more See Debating Europe’s InfoBox: Arguments For and Against Tougher Austerity Read Friends of Europe's fact sheet Rise and fall: When the fate of political leaders is tied to that of financial markets

Trustees speak out

• • •

France and Greece vote - Good and bad news for democracy

By Robert Cox François Hollande and fellow European leaders must concede that austerity on its own leads nowhere. For now, they only offer often confused theories about more infrastructure, freer labour markets, boosts for SMEs and bank lending etc. Read more

See Debating Europe’s InfoBox: Arguments For and Against Tougher Austerity
Read Friends of Europe's fact sheet Rise and fall: When the fate of political leaders is tied to that of financial markets

			Upcoming Event	• • •
			40 under 40: European Young Leaders
			7-9 June 2012 The European Young Leaders ‘40 under 40’ programme by EuropaNova and Friends of Europe engages forty of the European Union’s brightest young minds to create a new generation of opinion leaders promoting a European identity. The Young Leaders meet twice annually to reflect upon major problems confronting Europe and to generate innovative ideas and lasting solutions. The first 3-day seminar took place in Paris in December 2011, and a follow-up meeting will be held in Brussels on 7-9 June 2012 to clarify ways of putting these ideas into practice. Read more

			Recent Event	• • •
			EU 2050: Europe's tech revolution
			The pace and scope of changing technologies are challenging social structures, noted Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Advisor to the European Commission President, calling for more dialogue between policymakers, scientists and citizens to create a more flexible and functional future for technology in Europe. “We need more nimble policy frameworks,” agreed Dan Reed, Corporate Vice President of the Technology Policy Group at Microsoft Research. “We limit ourselves by prescribing mechanisms as opposed to describing outcomes that we would hope to achieve.” Photos, video and report

Guest Contribution

	The eurozone needs outside help to prepare for the worst By Leif Pagrotsky While most of us hope that Eurozone leaders will succeed in saving the euro, many of us fear the task may be too difficult. The probability of a failure has moved from unthinkable and out of question to unlikely but possible.

The eurozone needs outside help to prepare for the worst

By Leif Pagrotsky While most of us hope that Eurozone leaders will succeed in saving the euro, many of us fear the task may be too difficult. The probability of a failure has moved from unthinkable and out of question to unlikely but possible.

Trustees speak out

John Monks: Europe – Some threats and a bright star
As one who believes that Europe’s nation states need to move closer together and on from their past, if they are to exert influence in the world, the current times are very worrying. The EU is under threat as never before, economically from the crisis and politically as the forces of nationalism grow stronger.

Carl Bildt: Past and future
20 years have passed since the war began in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and those of us who attended the ceremony in Sarajevo marking the anniversary could see 11,541 empty chairs lined up in the centre of the city: one for each life lost during the siege of the Bosnian capital.

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Europe's World

For a strategic thinker, it’s a short-sighted suggestion by Bruno Kaufmann Julian Priestley has made a brave attempt at mapping the options for increasing public interest in the EU’s democratic underpinnings. His article offers insights into the state of play within the European Parliament, the mainstream media and academe.

Fostering Europe’s infant democracies by Radoslaw Sikorski A new tool to foster infant democracies in Europe’s neighbouring countries is proposed by Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski. As well as supporting pluralism, media freedom and “deep democracy” it would also enable the EU to act more quickly and flexibly.

Europe’s World is the only Eu-wide policy journal with a readership of over 100,000 mark. Issues can be consulted at www.europesworld.org, as well as articles from a wide range of other sources on “Think Tank Europe” and the “European Ideas Community”.

News

Votes speak louder than words: France and Greece say no to austerity
Socialist candidate François Hollande is to be France’s first left-wing president in 17 years, after securing nearly 52% of the vote in the second round of elections on May 6. Hollande has notably vowed to renegotiate the current European budget discipline pact, moving the focus away from austerity and towards growth.

French elections: Hollande ahead of Sarkozy, record vote for far-right
Socialist presidential candidate Francois Hollande has emerged as the victor in the first round of the French presidential elections on May 22, with more than 28% of the votes, ahead of President Nicolas Sarkozy, who scored just over 27%. This is the first time in French election history that an opposing candidate has beaten the incumbent at this stage.

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Op-eds

Europe’s Fairness Crisis
By Giles Merritt Far too slowly, politicians in Europe are beginning to understand that the deep crisis of the EU is a game changer. Even an eventual resolution of the eurozone crisis will not bring a return to the established political order. Europe’s crisis is about fairness, with widespread and growing discontent over wealth disparities now being highlighted by cases of real hardship.

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About The Future of Europe

In the late 1990s, Friends of Europe built its reputation by identifying EU institutional reform a critical issue that would determine the course of European integration. Landmark events such as the 28-nation “Hearing from Europe” TV debate of 2003 highlighted the reform process and our activities track closely the political fortunes of the Constitutional and Lisbon treaties. Another important dimension of this policy area is the EU budget.