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Europe

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Europe is described here in a geographical sense. It is not limited to the European Union, and includes, for example, the United Kingdom and the Balkans. It remains central to international relations.

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EU flag waving in front of European Parliament building. Brussels, Belgium
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Publications
Date de publication
November 2025

Opening up the G7 to South Korea to Address Contemporary Global Challenges

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Flags from the G7 Summit
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Flags from the G7 Summit
Credits : Fly Of Swallow Studio/Shutterstock.com
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The G7’s global influence has diminished as powers like China reshape international governance through initiatives such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). With the G7 now representing just 10 per cent of the world’s population and 28 per cent of global GDP, its relevance is increasingly questioned.

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(De)globalization of International Plastic Waste Trade: Stakes at Play and Perspectives

Date de publication
19 September 2019
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The world plastic production has been multiplied by 23 since 1964 to reach 348 million tonnes (mt) in 2017. This production level is expected to double in the next 20 years, largely because of the significant growth in plastic consumption in developing countries. Today, China is the largest producer of plastics (representing nearly 30% of global production) and the European Union (EU) comes second (18.5%) with 64 mt. 

Prospects for the New EU Strategy on India: Game Changer or Business as Usual?

Date de publication
17 September 2019
Accroche

The new European Union (EU) strategy on India marks a major moment of departure in EU-India relations.

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Democratization First. The Community Method in CFSP as a Precondition for a European Defense Policy

Date de publication
09 September 2019
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The recent calls for the militarization of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) require first a comprehensive democratization of European foreign and security policy.

Annegret BENDIEK
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RAMSES 2020. A World without a Compass?

Date de publication
27 August 2019
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RAMSES 2020. A World without a Compass?, written by Ifri's research team and external experts, offers an in-depth and up-to-date analysis of geopolitics in today’s world.

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Think Tank 7 - Recommendation paper for the G7 Presidency

Date de publication
23 August 2019
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The Think Tank 7 (T7) is an engagement group that brings together the leading Think Tanks from the G7 countries in order to analyze and make recommendations on key issues of the G7 presidency. 

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International trade - Rekindling interest in a multilateral rules-based approach

Date de publication
23 August 2019
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International trade is one of the themes that used to constitute the very raison d’être of the G7, alongside international security and energy policy. 

Françoise NICOLAS Sébastien JEAN
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Assessing Europe's Space Dependency and Its Implications

Date de publication
21 June 2019
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It is a classic exercise to imagine what today’s world would be like if all satellites were shut down. The exact consequences of such a scenario, which is not unlikely given the inherent vulnerability of space systems to natural, accidental and deliberate interferences, are however difficult to appreciate, even for specialists. 

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The European Union in Crisis: What Challenges Lie ahead and Why It Matters for Korea

Date de publication
20 May 2019
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The EU is currently undergoing serious challenges from inside such as Brexit and strengthening Euroscepticism, rising populism and changing political geography, anti-immigration moods as well as retarded economic recovery.

Heungchong KIM Françoise NICOLAS

Seven Years of The 16+1: An Assessment of China’s ‘Multilateral Bilateralism’ in Central Europe

Date de publication
09 April 2019
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Since mid-2012, in the wake of the global financial crisis, China has sought to reinvigorate relations with Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), notably through the creation of the 16+1 formula.

Justyna SZCZUDLIK

Space Weather and NEOs in the European Space Policy

Date de publication
10 August 2011
Accroche

Although often overshadowed by a focus on security concerns, Space weather and NEOs are important elements of Europe’s SSA program.

The Use of Space for Maritime Security in Europe

Date de publication
30 June 2011
Accroche

The EU is currently developing a Maritime Security Strategy. Space should be integrated in that effort, given its potential for maritime surveillance.

The EU internal market - a stake or a tool in European-Russian gas relations. The case of new member states gas policy

Date de publication
15 June 2011
Accroche

Since 2010 we have observed a new quality in EU energy policy. It is related to the European Commission’s more or less direct engagement in the bilateral gas relations of a part of the new member states - Poland, Bulgaria and Lithuania - with Russia.

Agata LOSKOT-STRACHOTA William C. RAMSAY

Protecting Nuclear Installations: The difference between industrial safety and national security

Date de publication
27 May 2011
Accroche

There is a gritty public debate going on in Europe about what threats should be considered in conducting stress tests on existing nuclear power plants or in establishing safety criteria for new build nuclear power. 

Integration or Imitation? EU Policy towards its Eastern Neighbours

Date de publication
04 May 2011
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However, these considerations extend beyond current events and the EU calendar. There are aspects of the central question, namely: Is the EU capable of exporting its own model of governance? This question is currently more focused on the local than the global potential of the European Union. Can it continue the process of „making Europe wider‟?

Katarzyna PELCZYNSKA-NALECZ

GMES, the Second Flagship

Date de publication
06 March 2011
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The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Program is often overshadowed by what is perceived to be the flagship program of European space, Galileo. As a matter of fact, GMES is just as important and faces many similar challenges.

Final Call for a European Space Strategy

Date de publication
25 January 2011
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Space poses both an opportunity and a challenge for Europe. And so does the new provision of the Lisbon Treaty - article 189 TFEU - that awards the EU an explicit competency on space.

Joao M. SANTOS

Galileo, the Long Road to European Autonomy

Date de publication
21 December 2010
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Galileo is one of the most ambitious programs ever managed by the EU. As such, it illustrates the challenges and the opportunities offered by the development of a European Space Policy at the political, industrial, economic and international level.

The Evolving Architecture of Space and Security

Date de publication
17 November 2010
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Today, Europe is taking initiatives both to prevent space weaponization and to develop space militarization. While national States remain the central players in this regard, the intergovernmental European Space Agency is increasingly involved in security-related activities and the European Union is showing growing political ambitions in this area.

European Defence Economy Afflicted by the Crisis

Date de publication
14 November 2010
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The European defence sector generates €86 billion annually - and that is only taking into account the 2009 turnover of the European defence industry for the three areas - aeronautics, land forces and naval forces.

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Related centers and programs
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The Pariser Platz (Paris Square) on the east side of the Brandenburg Gate at Berlin, Germany
The Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa)
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The Study Committee on Franco-German Relations (Cerfa) was created in 1954 by an inter-governmental agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and France, in order to raise awareness of Germany in France and analyze Franco-German relations, including in their European and international dimensions. In its conferences and seminars, which bring together experts, political leaders, senior decision-makers and representatives of civil society from both countries, Cerfa develops the Franco-German debate and stimulates political proposals. It regularly publishes studies through two collections: Cerfa notes and studies as well as Franco-German visions.

 

Cerfa maintains close relations with the network of German foundations and think tanks. In addition to its research and debate activities, Cerfa promotes the emergence of a new Franco-German generation through original cooperation programs. This is how in 2021-2022, Cerfa led a program on multilateralism with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Paris. This program is aimed at young professionals from both countries interested in the issues of multilateralism in the context of their activities. It covered a wide range of themes relating to multilateralism, such as international trade, health, human rights and migration, non-proliferation and disarmament. Previously, Cerfa had participated in the Franco-German future dialogue, co-led with the DGAP from 2007 to 2020, and supported by the Robert Bosch Foundation and the Daniel Vernet group (formerly the Franco-German Reflection Group) which was founded in 2014 upon the initiative of the Genshagen Foundation.

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France, Austria Flags, European Union
Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (ÖFZ)
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The Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (ÖFZ/CFA) is a Franco-Austrian intergovernmental organization, initiated in 1976 by Prime Minister Jacques Chirac and Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, in order to develop economic relations between Western and Eastern Europe, contributing to the creation of a Europe of peace.


After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the ÖFZ/CFA refocused its action on the problems following the enlargement of the European Union, and integrated the following countries in its field of activities : Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, the Baltic countries, Romania and Bulgaria. ÖFZ/CFA's vocation, as a space for reflection and exchange, is in fact reinforced by the need to support the new member countries of the Union in their integration process. Since 2004, the ÖFZ/CFA has also turned towards the Union's new neighbors, in particular towards the countries of the Western Balkans, which perceive their future from a European perspective.


The ÖFZ/CFA strives to place all of its exchanges in a global perspective concerning the future of our continent. Today it centers its activities around three directions: the Franco-Austrian bilateral dialogue, the future of the European Union, the future recomposition of the continent.

Reports of all events organized by the ÖFZ/CFA are available on its website (http://oefz.at). The ÖFZ/CFA's budget is provided by the French and Austrian foreign ministries. Depending on the themes addressed, the ÖFZ/CFA calls on European public and private institutions to help finance its meetings. The CFA's orientations benefit from the recommendations of an Orientation Council, approved by a Board of Directors, which elects from among its members a president and a secretary general.

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EU flag waving in front of European Parliament building. Brussels, Belgium
symbiot/Shutterstock