Analysis

Euro Summit ends without conclusions but offers optimism

The heads of state and government of the Eurozone met on 22 June in Brussels to attempt to find an agreement on the continuation of Greece’s bailout. A sense of urgency accompanied the summit, resulting from the imminence of a potential Greek default and a run on deposits in Greek banks. At the conclusion of the Summit, President of the European Commission Juncker stated that he was “convinced that we will come to a final agreement this week, because we have to.” In anticipation of the Summit, Greece submitted a final proposal containing new measures for addressing its economic and financial situation, which were discussed by the finance ministers of the Eurogroup prior to the Summit

Eurozone talks over Greek deal end in deadlock

Eurozone finance ministers met in Luxembourg on Thursday in the hope of reaching a deal that would see Athens receive the last €7.2 billion of the bailout aid. Hopes were quashed once again, however, as the failure to reach common ground extended the talks to Monday. The emergency summit was scheduled after EU leaders learned of the collapse of the Luxembourg talks. Next week’s meeting will take place only days before the debt repayment deadline is due. If Athens fails to reach an agreement with its creditors by then, it will risk defaulting on its debt and, very likely, exiting the Eurozone. This is a last-ditch effort to find a solution to the crisis

Centre-right alliance wins Danish elections

With nearly all the votes counted, former Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen can now call the elections for his centre-right coalition. After a tight race, it appears that the opposition bloc won by only one parliamentary seat over the ruling Social Democrats, capturing 90 seats to the centre-left coalition’s 89. With 100% of the mainland vote counted, the governing social-democratic coalition failed to secure enough seats in the 179-seat parliament that would allow it to stay in power. Despite garnering the biggest share of the vote, 26.3%, the Social Democrats saw their leader, Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, resign and the ruling coalition crumble

Stalemate in EU migration talks

On Tuesday, 16 June, EU Home Affairs Ministers met in Luxembourg to discuss a plan to distribute asylum seekers more equally across the 28-member bloc. The scheme is part of the European Agenda on Migration, a bundle of several different and concrete measures proposed by the European Commission to respond to the current migration crisis. Over the last months, the number of migrants venturing across the Mediterranean in the hope of reaching Europe has skyrocketed. With little support from other member states, Italy and Greece have been left to bear the brunt of dealing with this influx of people. Both countries want other EU member states to help out and ease the burden

EU–CELAC Summit ends with pledge to strengthen ties

With the theme “Shaping our common future: working for prosperous, cohesive and sustainable societies for our citizens,” leaders of the European Union and Latin America came together in Brussels on 10 and 11 of June. The talks were focused on strengthening economic ties, fostering political dialogue and ushering in more openness in Latin American societies. The summit, attended by some 60 leaders and senior government officials from both sides, is the second gathering ever of its kind. It shows a growing interdependence between the two continents as decision-makers look for common solutions to issues affecting the European

No vote on TTIP

The President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, has postponed the vote scheduled for Wednesday over recommendations which the European Parliament will submit to the Commission. These will then be taken into account in negotiating the trade and investment treaty between the European Union and the United States (TTIP). The decision has caused an angry session in Strasbourg. The United Left groups and the Greens have protested strongly and have blamed postponement of the vote on the fact that the large groups were worried that approval of a favourable position over the current TTIP negotiations would be jeopardized. The political struggle has broken out over the limits on legal protection for

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