Written by Carl Bildt, Carl Bildt, Sweden’s foreign minister from 2006 to October 2014 and Prime Minister from 1991 to 1994, when he negotiated Sweden’s EU accession.

As the European Union prepares to enter the new year, it faces an almost perfect storm of political challenges. The strategy it has used in the past – barely muddling through a series of calamities – may no longer be enough.

The debate so far in Europe about the refugee crisis is characterised by a failure of leadership; by a failure to act together; by a failure to properly engage with the scale of the crisis. The refugee crisis is now the biggest challenge facing the EU. The failure of Europe to find agreement and to act decisively on the issue has the potential to dismantle the EU from within.

The Netherlands Presidency work programme focuses on four key areas: 

1. Migration and international Security, 
2. Sound finances and a robust eurozone, 
3. Europe as an innovator and job creator and 
4. Forward-looking climate and energy policy.

The presidency wants an EU that focuses on what matters to Europe's citizens and businesses, an EU that creates growth and jobs through innovation and connects with civil society. The presidency will promote action at EU level only if it is more effective than policies at national level.

Published by Stratfor

2016 is shaping up to be an unsettling year for much of the world. The United States and Russia are still locked in an intractable standoff. Nationalism is resurfacing in Europe. The price of oil and other commodities are low. Chinese consumption is falling. And countries around the world are more resolved than ever before to intensify their military campaigns against the Islamic State. But it is important to remember that all these trends are connected, and the way they play out this year could determine how tumultuous the world will be in 2016.

Japan and Europe are both democracies which not only share common values and interests, but also cooperate closely in international fora such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7 and G20. They are also accelerating negotiations for a strategic partnership agreement and a free trade deal which together promise to take their bilateral relationship to a new level.

Russian influence in the Member States’ parliaments, media and business as well as at the European Parliament is significant. Russia has found allies in Europe’s far-right (in some cases arguably far-left) parties, which fiercely oppose pan-nationalistic tendencies such as the EU and NATO. These parties are vocal supporters of Russia’s political system and claim that alliance with Russia would help them gain independence from the economic and political clutches of the European Union.

Article written by : Bruno Amoroso and Jesper Jespersen Roskilde University, Denmark.

The article has been edited.

While the U.S. is shifting its strategic focus to Asia (the “Asian Pivot”), China is rapidly intensifying its relations with Europe and appears to be filling the strategic gap left there by Washington. As Chinese investment in (and trade with) Europe grows, so does Beijing’s influence on EU politics.

The European Commission intends to take concrete measures in the Investment Plan, the Digital Single Market, the Energy Union, the European Agenda on Security, the European Agenda on Migration, the Capital Markets Union, the Action Plan for Fair and Efficient Corporate Taxation, the new Trade Strategy and its most recent proposals to deepen and strengthen the Economic and Monetary Union. The Work Programme sets out the key initiatives the European Commission will take in the next twelve months.

As the European Union has expanded and evolved, Brussels, its de facto capital, has emerged as one of the world’s major hubs for government relations professionals. Just as in Washington, D.C., the only city with more of them,  it is dominated by corporate lobbyists. Many of them come from EU member countries, but they aren’t alone. American interests and corporations are ever-present, with formidable influence even comparable to companies with direct ties to the EU.