Publications Archive

In a year from now, Europe will go to the polls. But how legitimate and democratic is an election in which turnout is low, no uniform binding rules apply and Spitzenkandidaten (the party nominees for President) play only a minor role? The Centres for European Policy Network (cep) calls for uniform procedures, issues and campaigns to strengthen the Parliament, and for a lowering of the voting age to 16 across the EU.

Various crises increasingly lead to shortages in the supply of relevant goods and services. The Commission wants to counteract this with the so-called Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI). In future, state intervention is to ensure availability even in tense situations. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) criticises the EU plan as being legally contestable in large parts.

The Commission wants to reduce emissions of traffic-related air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and ozone still further. To this end, Brussels is counting on the introduction of so-called Euro 7 standards. The Center for European Policy (cep) sees the stricter requirements as a premature end to combustion engines through the back door. The current standards suffice to drastically reduce traffic-related pollutants.

Cost-effective and within seconds: The Commission plans to make real-time transfers, so-called instant payments, available for EU consumers by default. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) welcomes the approach to minimise fraud risks but rejects the draft law in general as too massive and unrealistic.

Europe is to become climate neutral. However, massive economic efforts are needed to achieve this technology transfer. The Centres for European Policy Network (cep) has studied a sample of 105 start-ups in the field of clean technologies. The result: a lack of venture capital and excessive bureaucracy stand in the way of green transformation in Germany, France and Italy.

With a new packaging regulation the Commission wants to strengthen environmental protection and market opportunities for recycled material. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) sees great potential in an EU-wide circular economy. However, Brussels is only halfway there. Member states may continue to impair the single market with too many national regulations.

European family businesses are groaning under bureaucratic burdens that leads to inefficiencies - first, by the requirements of the European Union itself and second, by the impractical implementation and operation on the national level. Moreover, different rules in individual member states complicate the process.

The EU is under pressure both geopolitically and in terms of its industrial policy, and is in danger of being left behind by the USA and China. Last week, therefore, the Commission presented three draft laws and a communication which aim to strengthen European sovereignty, competitiveness and resilience. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) finds the proposals fragmented and overly bureaucratic.

The Commission of the European Union assesses commission bans for financial products and intends to submit a proposal on 3 May. Supporters of the ban hope for higher transparency, better quality and lower costs. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) considers inducement bans, e.g. those already in force in the Netherlands and Great Britain, as a break of the established business models and pleads for other solutions.

Rare earths, renewable energies, knowledge: In the global competition for secure supply chains, critical resources are increasingly coming into focus. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) recommends that the European Union establishes strategic partnerships with resource-rich third countries. This is preferable compared to subsidy-based policies like the U.S. IRA, which distort global trade.