Policy

How can the EU support the establishment of commons, which could in turn sustain the European project?

TTIP has become notorious over recent years. From Brussels to Berlin, Warsaw to Barcelona, more people know what these four letters stand for today more than ever before.

The European Citizens’ Initiative opened a much needed channel for citizens to reach the European Institutions directly, and brought with it immense potential to reinforce the EU’s democratic legitimacy.

Are political parties still capable of integrating the long term into their strategic reflections?

It is no secret that the lobbying might of financial institutions has shaped regulatory rules at national, European and global level. But did the disaster of the 2007 financial crisis change this? The honest answer is that the old institutions are still up to their old tricks, and a change in how we make policy is needed if we are to avoid a repeat of the crisis.

Government procurement has long been used to help further public policy goals and European countries such as Italy and France are willing to still use it today to support renewable industries. However, at the European level something quite different is afoot that threatens the ability of procurement to be used to develop industry.