What Now, Europe?

As it faces the exigencies of an existential war, Ukraine is confronted with stark fiscal and financial policy trade-offs, despite the mitigation provided by large-scale external financial support. So far, its authorities have kept monetary and financial stability under control beyond a relatively brief initial episode of turmoil in 2022. What is the broad fiscal equation for Ukraine looking forwa...

The idea of Europe as a community emerged many centuries ago, but its meaning keeps changing—to Europeans and non-Europeans alike. Juliet Johnson has pioneered research on the changing role of European symbols such as the 12-starred flag, designed in the 1950s and formally adopted by European institutions in the 1980s. Intriguingly, shifts in meaning have often first occurred on Europe's eastern s...

The European Central Bank (ECB) is working on a digital version of the euro, a project started back in 2020 that is coming closer to fruition as the enabling EU legislation progresses. The ECB has designed a digital equivalent of cash, aimed at complementing physical euros for day-to-day payments. Its approach may be compared and contrasted with the US Federal Reserve's reluctance to introduce a d...

The European Union has not admitted a new member state since Croatia in 2013, while the United Kingdom left the block in 2020. Enlargement, however, is now back on the EU agenda. Western Balkan countries such as Montenegro are coming close to EU membership, and the new geopolitical context has fostered a reconsideration of the EU enlargement approach altogether. What factors will determine which n...

European leaders are waking up to the imperative of ensuring the continent's defense in a changed geopolitical environment. But they face complex trade-offs in terms of how to manage the corresponding transition and build the institutions needed for efficient defense procurement, threat assessment, and strategic planning.

Since the 2024 publication of reports by senior statesmen Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi, the European Union has been debating how to improve its competitiveness and foster more high-growth companies. Together with France's Christian Noyer, former German Federal Finance Minister Jörg Kukies has led an in-depth investigation of policy options to that effect. This session discusses their findings and...

In 2012, Anu Bradford coined the expression "Brussels effect," echoing earlier intra-US references to a similar "California effect"—namely that the global significance of the European market allowed the European Union to shape market regulations worldwide. Is this concept still relevant in a world that appears to have entered a phase of fragmentation?

Ukraine is on a path towards membership in the European Union—subject of course to the outcome of the ongoing brutal war of aggression by Russia. In this inaugural session of PIIE's new Europe-focused live podcast series, we will discuss the challenges and trade-offs both for Ukraine and for the European Union, with a leading government adviser and civil society advocate who was Ukraine's deputy i...

Europe faces a turbulent new era of economic, security, and governance challenges. Join Nicolas Véron, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, for a live podcast with experts and practitioners diving into Europe's economic future in a changing world.   What Now, Europe? launches on September 23, 2025. Register at  piie.com for the first episode ( https://www.piie.com/e...