EPIS Thinktank

Category: International Relations & Diplomacy

  • EU Enlargement and EP Seat Allocation Reform

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    Anna Yemchuk
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    Main question: How can the EU reform seat allocation in the European Parliament to integrate new candidate states without breaking the 750-mandate cap or causing political imbalance? Argument: The EU should implement a transparent formula combining a base quota, demographic sizing, and GDP per capita to align economic weight with political influence. Conclusion: This balanced…

  • THE EUROPEAN DIRECTORATE

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    Mink Winslet
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    Main question: How can the EU reform its decision-making structures to allow rapid expansion without causing governance paralysis? Argument: The EU must formalize a “Directorate” framework establishing strategic decision authority based on objective capacity criteria. Conclusion: Replacing unanimous vetoes with a structured, rotating fifteen-member Council enables a bigger and more effective Union.

  • Policy Proposal: Accession Optimisation

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    Iryna Kyrychenko
    in

    Main question: How can the EU accelerate its enlargement process to maintain strategic credibility without causing reform fatigue in candidate countries? Argument: The EU must implement binding deadlines, reinforced-majority voting for interim stages, and conditional, milestone-based rewards. Conclusion: This optimized model replaces long-term uncertainty with a disciplined, fair sequence that catalyzes European modernization.

  • Redistributing Influence

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    Nuria Mallofre Forn
    in

    How has the war in Ukraine transformed Russia’s influence on the Korean Peninsula? The article argues that Russia is redistributing its influence toward politically aligned and anti-Western states. The shift from South Korea to North Korea reflects a broader Eurasian realignment. The paper concludes that Moscow is strengthening ties with states such as North Korea,…

  • EU Enlargement

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    Valerie Panatas
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    Main question: How can the EU expand to maintain geopolitical influence without causing institutional stagnation or a budget drain? Argument: The EU must implement a three-stage accession model of gradual integration while removing national vetoes on enlargement. Conclusion: Structured phases and internal voting reforms allow the EU to become bigger and more efficient simultaneously.

  • Sectoral integration

    Sectoral integration

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    Artur Hrebeniuk
    in

    Main question: How can the EU resolve the structural contradiction between the geopolitical need for expansion and the internal limitations slowing down linear enlargement? Argument: The EU must replace its rigid membership model with a phased, modular framework of sectoral integration alongside targeted personnel training programs. Conclusion: Rethinking enlargement as a gradual, managed process allows…

  • Rethinking the EU’s Expansion Dilemmas

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    Burak Baran
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    Main question: How can the EU pursue geopolitically necessary enlargement without weakening its internal cohesion and governance capacity? Argument: The EU must implement a phased “European Political Sphere” framework alongside extending Qualified Majority Voting to prevent single-state vetoes. Conclusion: Aligning institutional deepening with widening transforms enlargement into a controlled, reversible process.

  • A Union that Scales

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    Zahra Mir
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    Main question: How can the EU adapt its traditional, binary enlargement process to expand geopolitically without falling into decision-making paralysis or democratic backsliding? Argument: The EU must implement a “Triple-Track Strategy” that unbundles integration into phased market access, political observership, and reversible rule-of-law mechanisms. Conclusion: Separating technical integration from the final political veto allows the…

  • Bigger or Better?

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    Andres Wickert
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    Main question: How can the EU expand its borders via geopolitically urgent enlargement without causing paralysis in its decision-making voting system? Argument: The EU must explicitly tie staged Council voting rights for candidate states to verified domestic milestones in democratic governance. Conclusion: Conditioning institutional rights on rule-of-law reforms preserves the Union’s strategic capacity to act…

  • Progressive EU Accession Path for Ukraine

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    Myroslava Hetman
    in

    Main question: How can the EU offer Ukraine meaningful integration benefits during a long pre-accession period without resorting to a politically accelerated membership that compromises standards? Argument: The EU should establish a “Progressive Accession” status, providing graduated Single Market access, institutional observer presence, and defense partnerships tied to verified reforms. Conclusion: This mechanism demonstrates geopolitical…