The Europe Debate

Sep 13, 2026

Albania trails Montenegro by a tenth of a point on EPIC's index, and by 15 chapters

EPIC's Integration Readiness Index puts Albania at 6.7, a tenth of a point behind Montenegro's 6.8. The negotiating table says 18 chapters closed to three. The gap between the two numbers is what Tirana's 2027 deadline rests on.

The Europe Debate

Sep 8, 2026

AfD wins Saxony-Anhalt with 43.8% but falls three seats short

The far right came first in a German state election for the first time, taking 39 of 83 seats in Magdeburg. Friedrich Merz's CDU collapsed to around 17% and now has to find out whether its firewall survives contact with arithmetic.

The Europe Debate

Sep 7, 2026

Serbia scores 5.5 on EU readiness — behind Ukraine and Moldova

EPIC's Integration Readiness Index puts Serbia at 5.5 out of 10 for 2025, level with North Macedonia and behind two countries that only applied in 2022. Last week's row over Ratko Mladić's funeral shows why the gap is not technical.

The Europe Debate

Sep 7, 2026

Iceland's No reopens the argument over halfway membership

Iceland voted to stay outside the EU and inside its single market. Analysts at Bruegel and HEC Paris say that arrangement should be treated as a model rather than a failure. The objection is that it hands Eurosceptics a cheap answer.

The Europe Debate

Sep 7, 2026

Eleven EU states move to end the foreign policy veto

A letter from eleven capitals asks Kaja Kallas to find ways around national vetoes. A separate Franco-German paper would fold much of her diplomatic service into the Commission. Foreign ministers take up both in Wicklow today.

The Europe Debate

Sep 2, 2026

France's left has two candidates and no plan for Mélenchon

Olivier Faure has entered the social-democratic primary against Raphaël Glucksmann, a sitting MEP. The contest is nominally about who leads the French left in 2027. In practice it is about whether the left speaks to Jean-Luc Mélenchon at all.