his paper looks at how France and Germany are dealing with demographic decline – and why this matters for Europe as a whole. It explores the pressures ageing populations put on labour markets, welfare systems and regional balance, and highlights where the two countries diverge and where they must act together. The focus is on practical policy options and the role of Franco-German cooperation in turning demographic risk into strategic opportunity. Rather than offering quick fixes, there is a need for coordinated, long-term strategies to safeguard the sustainability of European welfare models and enhance economic competitiveness. As demographic pressures mount, such joint efforts serve as an example of how ageing societies can respond – not with resignation, but with reform, innovation and shared leadership.
At the heart of economic security, technological resilience is a backbone of the European Union’s (EU) competitiveness. The EU’s energy and digital transitions rely on critical raw materials (CRMs), the supply of which is increasingly constrained by export restrictions, creating significant challenges for EU industries. In order to “de- risk” by reducing one-sided dependencies, the EU needs to build its own value chains, further innovation and diversify its suppliers. France and Germany, Europe’s main economies, share this diagnosis, but while France prioritises a state-geared industrial policy, Germany follows a market-driven path. However different political traditions do not have to be an obstacle but can complement each other in a joint European raw materials strategy.
Levelling up the European defence industry will require vision and action in three major areas: leadership formats and political decision-making; capabilities, procurement and funding; and creating a genuinely European strategic culture. The key task for European countries will be navigating these challenges simultaneously and ensuring that the measures constitute a coherent strategy. Especially France and Germany as the biggest EU member states, alongside the UK, Italy and Poland as partners, should lead the way: the window of opportunity for political ambition in this format is limited in light of the French presidential elections in 2027 and must not be wasted.
Aby wzmocnić uczestnictwo w kulturze młodych ludzi w krajach Trójkąta Weimarskiego, młodzi dorośli z Niemiec, Francji i Polski wypracowali podczas laboratorium młodzieżowego „Paszport do kultury“ propozycje dalszego rozwoju paszportu do kultury.
Studium Susanne Keuchel i Steffena Riske „Kulturelle Teilhabe im Wandel” (Uczestnictwo w kulturze w okresie przemian) ukazało się w wydawnictwie B&S Siebenhaar w "edition7".
Punktualnie na koniec politycznej przerwy wakacyjnej w Brukseli, Paryżu, Warszawie i Berlinie Thierry Chopin, Melchior Szczepanik i Linn Selle analizują perspektywy dla Francji, Polski i Niemiec po wyborach do Parlamentu Europejskiego w 2024 r. oraz ich konsekwencje w wymiarze krajowym i europejskim.
“Humanity has opened the gates of hell”, stated UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the Climate Ambition Summit in September 2023, emphasising that we are currently on a path of global warming above 2.4°C or even 2.9°C. Despite this, climate action has faced headwinds in recent years, perhaps particularly in Europe. In the face of a context hostile to the structural changes necessary for the transition, which disparities should be urgently tackled? How can a fairer green transition be ensured? And, last but not least, what Franco-German perspectives are there on this issue?
While migration within and immigration to Europe is not a new phenomenon from a historical perspective, global migration movements have decisively shaped and changed the European Union over the last decade. Welcoming and supporting new immigrants in large numbers poses major challenges for local authorities and can become a breeding ground for social tensions. On the other hand, European societies are set to face significant challenges stemming from their ageing populations in the coming 50 years and immigration will likely be required to deal with a working-age population in structural decline. The paper addresses following questions: how is the increasing political influence of far-right parties, both at the national and regional level, impacting migration and diversity policies? How could the debate in society about migration be more constructive and less polarised? What best-practice examples already exist for dealing with cultural diversity in a migration society and with the integration of new immigrants? How can unity in diversity be promoted beyond the scope of laws and regulations at European and national level, as emerging from citizenship and civil participation?
Democracy has been declared dead many times, and yet it is still alive and kicking. On the one hand, global challenges and rapidly changing socio-technological conditions represent a huge opportunity for liberal democracies to keep reinventing themselves. At the same time, they are imposing a heavy burden on the conditions needed for them to thrive. Governing in political systems that primarily base political trust on elections is becoming more cumbersome in a more fragmented and rapidly shifting political landscape. In many countries, citizens feel that they have no impact on politics, which is leading to growing public discontent and high abstention rates. The widespread feeling among citizens that participatory democracy overpromises and underdelivers raises the following question: if negative emotions and affective polarization threaten democracy, can deliberation save it?
Utworzenie Europejskiej Wspólnoty Politycznej w 2022 r. było reakcją na historyczne i geopolityczne wyzwanie związane z pełnoskalową inwazją Rosji na Ukrainę. Od tego czasu EWP wzbudziła pewne zainteresowanie w europejskich stolicach, ale pozostaje jeszcze wiele do zrobienia, aby wykorzystać jej potencjał. Wspólne i elastyczne zaangażowanie Trójkąta Weimarskiego w EWP – we współpracy z krajami organizującymi spotkania – byłoby korzystne dla obu formatów międzynarodowych. Pomogłoby to utrzymać multilateralizm w Europie i nadać ramom EWP silniejszą orientację strategiczną.
Po początkowych wątpliwościach wobec zaskakującej inicjatywy prezydenta Emmanuela Macrona większość przywódców europejskich wyraziło swoje poparcie dla Europejskiej Wspólnoty Politycznej.
Było tak również w przypadku Austrii, która – kiedy okazało się, że Wspólnota nie jest pomyślana jako alternatywa dla procesu rozszerzenia UE – zareagowała w końcu pozytywnie.
