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I co-authored the most recent edition of the textbook “How the European Institutions Work” (John Harper Publishing, 2020), where I wrote the chapter about the European Parliament. EU legislation has worldwide and serious impacts for governments, businesses and consumers. In this systematic and practical handbook, expert Brussels professionals share their insights, tips and strategies for […]
Having set up an run for the past 10 years a leading Brussels-based observatory of EU politics, Doru Frantescu, CEO and Co-founder of VoteWatch Europe, shares his insights in this Springer’s book, Lobbying in the European Union. The volume is coordinated by Doris Dialer and Margarethe Richter and combines insights from a broad range of practitioners and academia. […]
Doru Peter Frantescu is CEO & cofounder of VoteWatch Europe (the most most influential platform among MEPs), as well as a member of the European Alliance for Artificial Intelligence. Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman’s excellently showcases in his book Thinking, fast and slow why some people get things wrong most of the time: they rely […]
If you think that 2016 was a dynamic year politically-wise, wait until you see the new year unfolding. The changes that will take place in the US and Europe will gradually reshape the currents of opinion globally and hence the patterns of international relations. Geo-political realignments will affect world governance, trade, businesses, economies and societies. […]
This commentary is written on the flight back to Brussels from Washington DC with just a day to go before the start of the vote on the most controversial American presidential elections ever. Over the past week, I have talked to relevant American experts and European professionals based in the US. I have also exchanged views […]
Over the past few weeks, calls for more integration and coordination in EU Defense policy were elevated from several powerhouses. But what are the real chances of this project? This report measures the level of support from political forces across the EU, the balance of power between them and shows who are the allies of […]
Which members of the European Parliament – MEPs – are the most in favour of free trade and which, to the contrary, are the most opposed to it? Not necessarily those you might think, our latest VoteWatch Europe study shows. We have used the European Parliament as object of analysis for two reasons. Firstly, this […]
Why are why doing this assessment? VoteWatch Europe has recently conducted an overall assessment on the most influential MEPs over the current parliamentary term. This type of information is fundamental to the public, who needs to be aware of the personalities that shape policies affecting over 500 million EU citizens. The institutions as a whole, […]
with special thanks to professor Simon Hix and research assistant Davide Ferrari — After the outcome of the Brexit referendum, many observers wondered how the equilibrium of powers in the EU Council would change. We have looked at the voting dynamics over the last 7 years (over 22.000 votes of EU governments) to understand what is […]
The European Parliament has recently said “no” to grant market economy status (MES) to China. At the final vote, 84% of its Members backed the EP document, which made it look to the outsiders like a broad consensus against MES for China. However, a closer look at the actual text adopted and on how MEPs […]