TEPSA "The Trans European Policy Studies Association"

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TEPSA Brief

TEPSA Brief is a monthly policy brief, which informs concisely about current and ongoing policies and developments in the European Union.

TEPSA Brief 3/2009: Recommendations to the Swedish Presidency

Priorities and Challenges of the Swedish EU Presidency - Recommendations from the TEPSA network, June 2009

These recommendations to the Swedish Presidency of the European Union were drafted by Brendan
Donnelly (The Federal Trust for Education and Research), Hanna Ojanen (The Finnish Institute of
International Affairs) and Petr Kratochvíl (The Institute of International Relations, Prague).

They were presented by Petr Kratochvil at the Conference “The Swedish Presidency 2009: Finding Solidarity in the Face of Crises”, organized by the Swedish Institute for International Affairs in Stockholm (28th-29th May 2009) on behalf of the Trans-European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) and the EU-CONSENT Network of Excellence, to Cecilia Malmström, Minister for EU Affairs.

TEPSA Brief 2/2009: EU’s Baltic strategy

EU’s Baltic strategy: realities of the crisis and the vision of a region

by Vadim Kononenko, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (vadim.kononenko@upi-fiia.fi)

How is the global economic crisis shaping the dynamics of cooperation around the Baltic sea? The
region’s image of “success story” quickly gave place to worries and doubts as the economies of the
Baltic countries plunged into recession. The crisis puts under question various ambitious plans and
strategies for the region’s development as a role model for global competitiveness, innovation and
cooperation. More importantly, the crisis reveals that “region-building”, which has been one of the
trademarks of EU’s policy-making, becomes increasingly problematic for both Brussels and national
governments.

TEPSA Brief 1/2009: European Leadership

The events of January 2009 reveal a picture which could hardly be more confusing: Whereas in the United States Barack Obama’s inauguration as President of the United States of America seems to demonstrate the maximum leadership possible, the European Union is currently led by a Presidency which puts own national considerations first. Both the positions of the President of the Commission and the High Representative – which will be merged with the Commissioner for External Relations when the Treaty of Lisbon will come into force – are subject to their five-yearly revisions in 2009. Thus, where is European leadership heading?

TEPSA Brief 1/2009 discusses in this context the topic of European leadership.

TEPSA Brief n°4: Recommendations to the Czech Presidency

TEPSA has a long tradition in offering recommendations to future Presidencies. TEPSA Brief No. 4 thus presents the recommendations from TEPSA Board members Iain Begg (LSE, London), Nikos Frangakis (EKEME, Athens), Gunilla Herolf (SIPRI, Stockholm) and Hanna Ojanen (UPI-FIIA, Helsinki) to the Czech Presidency.

TEPSA Brief n° 3: Conclusions of the European Council

On 15/16 October 2008 the European Council met for the second time under the French Presidency. While the focus of the meeting was clearly placed on solutions for the financial crisis, also topics such as climate change and energy security were touched upon, as well as the follow-up to the crisis in Georgia. TEPSA Brief No. 3 summarizes the conclusions of the summit of 15/16 October 2008.