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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
Press
Date de publication
June 2024

The Future of Europe’s Strategic Deterrence is (also) at Sea

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The French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle"
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The French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle"
Credits : Joris van Boven/Shutterstock
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A cursory look at both France and the UK suggests that the future of European nuclear deterrence is at sea.

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France and China link up in global infrastructure projects

24 February 2022
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Paris and Beijing have agreed to build infrastructure projects in Africa, South East Asia and Eastern Europe. But will this help shine light on China’s opaque foreign investments? Or just give the appearance of doing so?

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The EU, Africa, and the Issue of Climate Change: What Prospects for Cooperation? Video with Olumide Abimbola

17 February 2022
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An interview with Olumide Abimbola, founder and director of the Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI).

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Will the European presidency help Macron secure a second term?

18 January 2022
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The French president, whose leadership will be challenged in April, may seek reforms as he guides the EU. With months to go until its presidential election, France took on the rotating presidency of the European Council on January 1.

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Sub snub just one symptom of longtime French unease with US

24 September 2021
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Born of a revolution fought for liberty, ties between the United States and its oldest ally, France, have long been fraternal, but they've also been marked by deep French unease over their equality.

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America's Defense Pact with Australia and the U.K. Has Humiliated France's Macron. But It Might Also Help Him

21 September 2021
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For years, French President Emmanuel Macron butted heads, bit his tongue in frustration, and lashed out at former President Donald Trump, who refused to yield an inch to his entreaties about global cooperation. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Agreement on climate change—cherished projects for Macron—and trashed the NATO military alliance as “obsolete.”

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World’s Rich Nations Jostle to Lead Globalization Clubhouse

28 October 2020
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The race to fill a role at the heart of world economic policy making is turning into a new battleground for the future of globalization.

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Foreign Policy

U.S. Allies Look on in Dismay While U.S. Rivals Rejoice

05 June 2020
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Trump’s failure to convene a G-7 meeting is only the latest blow to America’s crumbling prestige in the face of nationwide unrest. When German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week declined an invitation to join U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington for a star-crossed meeting of the G-7, and then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rebuffed Trump’s plans to bring Russia back into the group, it underscored how profoundly U.S. allies and partners have soured on American leadership amid a mishandled pandemic and a violent crackdown on protesters.

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Allies despair as Trump abandons America's leadership role at a time of global crisis

09 May 2020
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The United States has scaled back its role on the world stage, taken actions that are undermining efforts to battle the coronavirus pandemic and left the international community without a traditional global leader, according to experts, diplomats and analysts.

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Europe’s relationship with China is now one of mistrust and hostility

02 May 2020
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At the start of the pandemic, Europe and China helped one other. Then the mood changed.

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France to spell out post-Brexit nuclear weapons strategy

07 February 2020
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France, the European Union's sole nuclear power since Britain's exit from the bloc, will unveil Friday how it intends to use its atomic arsenal as a deterrent in an increasingly unstable world.

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Europe, Power and Finance

Date de publication
09 July 2021
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Finance has become an essential attribute of power. Its importance has grown given the substantial investments needed for the energy and digital transitions as well as the need to support economies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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EU-Japan Relations: Moving Forward

Date de publication
25 May 2021
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EU-Japan relations have undergone a major uplift over the past 5 years. Bound by the Economic and Strategic Partnership Agreements, as well as the Partnership on Sustainable Connectivity, the two once-distant players have been stepping up efforts to address the many shared security concerns in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Ahead of the upcoming EU-Japan summit, this Policy Brief takes stock of the current state of play and offers some food for thought on how to move forward with the bilateral relationship.

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Europe in the Geopolitics of Technology: Connecting the Internal and External Dimensions

Date de publication
09 April 2021
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To respond to growing global competition, the EU has made notable progress on the internal dimension of technology policy over the past 3 years. It is now also seeking to adapt its foreign policy  from the transatlantic relationship to global partnerships  to technological challenges.

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Towards Tougher Bilateral Relations Between EU and China

Date de publication
18 September 2020
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When politics catches up to the economy. In the wake of the EU-China summit, what can we expect from the bilateral relations? 2020 was supposed to be the year of EU-China relations. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has quickly disrupted the positive expectations.

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Shaping the future of the EU: reviving the Europeanisation process

Date de publication
01 September 2020
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More than ten years after joining the European Union (EU), the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) exhibit a puzzle of attitudes and conceptions regarding the EU.

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The European Equation of Nuclear Deterrence, Variables and Possible Solutions

Date de publication
06 July 2020
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Ever since nuclear weapons were developed by the United States and the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, Europe has lived under the nuclear shadow. A major direct confrontation between “the West” and “the East” could have very likely resulted in the detonation of nuclear weapons on the continent. As the Cold War ended, massive reductions in the US and Soviet arsenals (from 70,300 in 1986 to 13,890 in 2019) and a new security architecture radically transformed the European security environment.

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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. 

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

Date de publication
17 September 2019
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The new European Union (EU) strategy on India marks a major moment of departure in EU-India relations.

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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.

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What's next for Europe after Brexit?

19 August 2016
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Vivien Pertusot was interviewed after the vote in United Kingdom in June on what the consequences of Brexit are for the future of the European Union.

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French business to gain from Brexit, but Frexit menaces

24 June 2016
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Vivien Pertusot, of the international relations think tank Ifri, said the Franco-British political relationship had never been defined by the European Union but is based on bilateral interests.

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A week that will define Europe

20 June 2016
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 In a few days’ time, the populist conservative Boris Johnson may well be on his way to becoming British prime minister. And the radical left Podemos movement could be close to the reins of power in Spain. There is the question of what role the current EU institutions — the Commission and the Parliament — might play in a new climate infused with Euro-wariness. “There’s a realization that Europe has changed much faster than its conservative, slow-moving institutional bodies,” said Vivien Pertusot. 

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Nervous France opens Euro 2016 games

10 June 2016
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In Europe, "Hollande is considered as domestically weak, he's not considered as a leader who can revolutionise France," Vivien Pertusot, the head of the French think-tank Ifri's Brussels office, told EUobserver.

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After UK: Who's next curbing social benefits?

24 February 2016
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Vivien Pertusot appears in a news report by Euranet Plus looking at the section on social benefits from the deal found between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

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France and Britain seeking eurozone agreement ahead of EU 'Brexit' summit

15 February 2016
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Vivien Pertusot analyses the difficulties between the United Kingdom and France over the draft deal on the "Brexit" negotiations ahead of the European Council.

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Great-Britain Whistle-Stop Tour of the EU

17 December 2015
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The consultations on Cameron’s demands were run with the EU members by the head of the European Council, Donald Tusk from Poland. Tusk wrote down what was said and sent a letter to London and other European capitals. The letter was quite peculiar, admits Vivient Pertusot, the head of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) in Brussels.

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Semi-Mutual Defense: Europe’s Patchwork Response to Paris Attacks

09 December 2015
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The offer of active military support to France in Syria or in the Sahel by several European member states is likely to overshadow the absence of meaningful commitment from others. On balance, the picture will not be too disheartening for supporters of the EU: its foreign and security policy apparatus will not come out damaged, but only because it has not been properly tested.

 

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The French are looking for a fair deal for France and the EU, not just Britain

10 October 2015
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France has been ambivalent on the British renegotiation campaign. The general mood is to keep the UK in, but messages are going in different directions. Some are shrugging off the UK’s calls for reform and are not trying very hard to accommodate Westminster. Others seem keener to find an acceptable deal for Britain.

 

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What Greece needs is good governance not a referendum

01 July 2015
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Without real and profound change in Greece's dysfunctional state, it is almost irrelevant whether the country reaches a short-term deal with its creditors or not, say analysts. "Greece cannot perform economically well in the long-term without major structural reforms. These need to address the size and quality of public administration and the fight against corruption," says Vivien Pertusot, of the French Institute of International Relations, a Brussels think tank.

Ideally, the impetus for reform needs to come from inside Greece, says Pertusot. "It's one thing to impose these reforms on yourself, quite another to have them imposed from outside, which makes it difficult for a government to own the reforms. It is possible to prioritise improving the quality of public administration, and decreasing its size, but it will take years to see concrete progress."

Long-entrenched vested interests will likely prove an obstacle to change, says Pertusot, and government will still need to function while reforms are enacted. "To revamp an entire system without smashing it is a complicated and delicate task. It requires the right leaders at the right time, willing and able to fight against an established system."

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Support independent French research

Ifri, a foundation recognized as being of public utility, relies largely on private donors – companies and individuals – to guarantee its sustainability and intellectual independence. Through their funding, donors help maintain the Institute's position among the world's leading think tanks. By benefiting from an internationally recognized network and expertise, donors refine their understanding of geopolitical risk and its consequences on global politics and the economy. In 2024, Ifri will support more than 70 French and foreign companies and organizations.

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Related centers and programs
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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
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