- Think tank review
- 28 ottobre 2016
Think Tank Review - Issue 39/2016
The 39th edition of the Think Tank Review (TTR) compiled by the EU Council Library is out now. It references papers published in September 2016.
This TTR has a special focus on China's foreign policy and external relations, with papers looking at China and the Mediterranean, China's relations with Sub-Saharan Africa, the Nordic countries' relations with China, the Belt and Road initiative, the 13th Chinese five-year plan (2016-2020), China and Brexit, and China's growth challenges – to mention just a few, as a taster of what you can find in this selection.
In the 'EU Politics and Institutions' section, readers will find several substantial contributions, two of which we would like to draw your attention to: 'How can we make Europe popular again?' by Jean-Claude Piris, and Pierre Vimont's 'The Strategic Interests of the European Union'. Jean-Claude Piris points out that, contrary to some media expectations, the result of the UK referendum did not lead to contagion in other EU member states and no member state is planning to leave the Union either in the short or mid-term.
In the 'Economic and Financial Affairs' section, readers will find several substantial contributions: to mention just two, a paper on economic growth strategies for Southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece); and another concentrating on the contrasting impact of uncertainty shocks in continental Europe and in the English-speaking world.
In the 'EU Member States' section, several articles concentrate on Brexit, with inspiring contributions on the future of Europe, on how Brexit opens a window of opportunity for treaty reform in the EU, and on how to build a more flexible EU after Brexit. MEP Guy Verhofstadt has written a contribution entitled 'Europe: Back to the future'. Also in this section, we would like to point out a paper on the upcoming constitutional referendum in Italy, a key event for Italy's government and the political developments leading up to the general elections in spring 2018.
As we show in the 'EU Policies' section, think tanks continue to pay close attention to migration issues. On Agriculture and Fisheries, we would highlight two papers: one on the CAP and the environment in future EU budgets, and another on the success factors in EU agricultural negotiations. We also look at think tanks' take on employment and social issues, with papers focusing on the EU's efforts to promote and protect the human rights of LGBTI persons in its Eastern neighbourhood, the European social model, female and male mortality in Europe, and the sustainability of European health systems.
In the 'Foreign Affairs' section, we present a rich selection of articles. Just to give readers a flavour, we have selected papers on the EU special representatives; Brazil as a security and development provider in Africa; Turkey, the EU and scenarios for 2023; and youth civic and political engagement and student movements in Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia.
As always, feedback is welcome at [email protected]. The next Review will be out in November 2016, covering papers published in October 2016.