Research
Annual report - 2008
The year 2008 was one of rapid change and uncertainty, which may come to be seen as a bigger turning point in the history of Europe than 1968 or 1989. The Irish voted No to the Lisbon treaty, Russia conquered parts of Georgia, some of Europe’s biggest banks went bust, the state increased its role in many economies, and Europe prepared for its worst recession since the 1930s.
Annual report - 2007
The signing of the Treaty of Lisbon in December 2007 may well prove to have been an important step in the history of the European Union. Not because the treaty will lead to big changes in the way the EU works – it will not, though it does promise to make the institutions more effective. But the agreement on the new text – assuming that all 27 members ratify it in 2008 – should allow the EU to leave behind six years of dull and sometimes acrimonious debates on treaties, institutions and constitutions.