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Think Tank Review - Issue 56/2018

Dear Readers,

Welcome to issue 56 of the Think Tank Review compiled by the EU Council Library* (click to share on Twitter). It references papers published in March 2018. As usual, we provide the link to the full text and a short abstract.

Click to open TTR 56 

As in previous issues, we bring you a wealth of attractive and captivating topics, which include a statistical analysis of populism and economic freedom, rethinking the EU's post-Brexit budget priorities, the view on Germany's new coalition government in regard to climate and energy. This issue also includes papers on Greece's "clean exit" from the third bailout, euroscepticism in Italy, balanced migration, as well as the future of the Schengen area, to name just a few. We would also like to point out several other interesting reads such as the article on ways to reform European education systems to build a true European Education Area by 2025 by Commissioner Tibor Navracsics, or on the European Union and its Eastern partners.

Unsurprisingly, the special focus is on North Korea, which has recently shown a willingness to negotiate about potential denuclearization, in a remarkable development that followed unprecedented meetings in Pyongyang. The featured articles deal with North Korea's chemical, biological, and conventional weapons, Japan's view of the North Korean threat, the US - Japan ROK Cooperation, and the crisis and new political agenda for the Korean peninsula and the regional powers.

The first section, EU Politics and Institutions, explores various themes, such as the middle class in focus and corresponding priorities for the 2019 elections and beyond, regional solidarity policy after 2012, as well as a piece on European identity.

In section 2, Economic and Financial Affairs, one can find articles on performance budgeting as a means of improving EU spending, on how to enhance credibility and commitment to fiscal rules, and on the new global economic governance.

Section 3, EU Member States, this time encompasses 13 states, bringing articles on the tobacco products market in Bulgaria, a comparison between Estonia and Singapore in terms of defence innovation, on the situation in the northern part of Cyprus, and on social protection in France. We also cover the Gibraltar issue, and the gender pay gap in Spain, as well as the political economy of the low-carbon transition in Slovakia. The subsection on Brexit highlights the implications of Brexit for food and agriculture in developing countries, and the extremely important issue of the impact of the UK-EU agreement on residence and citizenship rights for EU families. Also, the House of Commons Library research service published recently a briefing paper on Brexit and the new guidelines on the framework for future EU-UK relations.

In Section 4, EU Policies, we bring articles on prison management of terrorism-related offenders and the question of whether separation is effective, on equality and the fight against racism and xenophobia, on structural weaknesses in the Common European Asylum System and the reception of refugees in Turkey. Others deal with the role of business in the circular economy, the age of artificial intelligence and a possible European strategy for human-centric machines, the geopolitics of power grids and the political and security aspects of Baltic synchronization, as well as the need to focus more on the integration of migrant women.

In Section 5, Foreign Affairs, the topics cover diverse issues such as permanent structured cooperation as an important step for consolidating EU security and defence cooperation. This section also brings articles on non-proliferation regime for cyber weapons, on global trade, on water and food security in Turkey in a changing climate, and on China's pursuit of overseas security. China also features in the article on its role in UN peacekeeping.

The last part of the Think Tank Review is also dedicated inter alia to themes such as Russia-UK security relations, the arrival of the post-Putin era in Russian domestic politics, Venezuela's crisis, commercial warfare initiated by Trump, and the American economy from the European viewpoint.

The Review can be downloaded from our blog. As always, feedback is welcome at [email protected].

The next Review will be out in May 2018, with papers published in April 2018.

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