10 YEARS AFTER ACCESSION TO THE EU (by Andreas Theophanous). When Cyprus applied for membership to the EU in 1990 there where high expectations and great euphoria both in relation to the Cyprus question and the socioeconomic prospects of the country.  In relation to the Cyprus question the expectation was that the value system of the EU would have influenced its resolution in a … MORE

THE EUROPEAN UNION, TEN YEARS LATER (by Michalis Attalides). In May, 2004 there was no financial crisis, the Constitutional Treaty had not yet been rejected in referenda in France and the Netherlands, and there were no divisive issues between North and South within the EU. The EU was still celebrating the end of the division of Europe and confidence was relatively high. … MORE

EASTERN PARTNERSHIP IN THE CONTEXT OF UKRAINIAN CONFLICT: LESSONS TO BE LEARNED (by Nadia Alexandrova-Arbatova). The crisis in Ukraine has become the first direct conflict between European Union and Russia or better to say between their differing regional strategies – Eastern Partnership and Eurasia Union concept. In my view, this conflict has been predetermined .… MORE

WHAT’S WRONG WITH SOUTHERN EUROPE: ITS ECONOMIES, ITS POLITICS OR BOTH? (by Roderick Pace). Five years of economic crisis has turned most opinion leaders in southern Europe into veritable “economic zombies”. The prevalent view seems to be that the main challenges faced by the south are economic. All that needs to be done is to address the lack of … MORE

THE EU: PRESENT AS PRELUDE (by Monroe Newman). For someone of my generation, who grew up among World War I veterans and lived through the horrors that beset Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, the very existence of the EU is a most remarkable achievement. No matter what its errors and omissions, none should diminish that signal accomplishment. … MORE

EU AS CYPRUS’S GEOSTRATEGIC CONTEXT: A COMPARISON WITH ICELAND (by Soteris Kattos). Political considerations, that is, the survival and continuity of the Cypriot state compelled the Cypriot government in July 1990 to apply for full membership to the European Union. Fearful of the future survival prospects due to the Turkish political intransigence for a lasting and a viable settlement the … MORE
 
  CONTEXT MATTERS (by Symeon Giannakos). The year 2014 marks ten years since the single largest expansion of the European Union and 57 years since the 1957 Treaty of Rome.  If the EU were a human being, it would have, by now, lived out the greater part of her life. Also, a decade of membership in the European Union seems a long time if viewed in the context of a human’s lifespan. … MORE
 
 

THE POLITICAL COST THAT THE EU HAS TO PAY FOR THE CRISIS (by Giorgos Kentas). In view of the European Parliament Elections in May 2014 there is little to present in defense of the European Union (EU). Actually EU citizens don’t seem to place much hope in European Integration. Looking into the record, the turnout at European Parliament elections between 1979 and 2009, EU … MORE