Fabrizio Tassinari, Head of Foreign Policy Studies at the Danish Institute for International Studies and non-resident Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, is the author of the forthcoming book The Crystal Curtain: A Postscript on Europe’s North-South Divide.
Watching Italian soccer fans last month, one might think that a World Cup victory was the country’s most important opportunity this year. But it is the government’s performance in the six-month EU pre… read more
Twenty years ago this month, in Copenhagen, the European Council established the eligibility requirements for joining the EU. But, with the EU navigating the severest economic crisis since its creatio… read more
As the EU’s top competition official a decade ago, Mario Monti was regarded as a very Anglo-Saxon regulator. Today, he is the most Nordic prime minister that Italy has ever had – in a country where po… read more
The rise of unelected technocrats to political power in Greece and Italy suggests, at least superficially, that the old taboo against technocratic governments pursuing an EU-dictated agenda has been s… read more
Ten months after the collapse of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s authoritarian regime, Tunisia has balanced the revolutionary urge for change and a pragmatic need for continuity. With elections for a consti… read more
One unintended effect of the Arab revolutions is that the link between security and integration that forms Europe’s foundation is decoupling. Europe's governments find it more politically rewarding to… read more
The trouble with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi goes far beyond his rococo personal life. Indeed, the real problem is his corporate empire, which ranges from media and publishing to insuranc… read more
