Suchergebnisse

Among the EU's challenges, demography is probably the least conspicuous. This does not, however, mean that it is unimportant—quite the contrary. While in the past, it was visible only in population statistics, in the 2020s the lack of a labour force has become obvious to anyone with an interest in the European welfare state and the EU's competitiveness. Population ageing, caused by increasing longevity and persistently low birth rates, cannot be addressed by encouraging women to have more children or by bringing in non-EU migrants. These methods are ineffective, and often resented. Instead, the key to improving the state of the EU's demographic and economic prospects lies in increasing labour participation rates. This can be done by pushing up the statutory retirement age and creating the right conditions for older people, women, minority groups and diasporas to enter the world of work. While the latter measures are also not easy to implement, they are still more politically and socially viable than boosting immigration and birth rates.

There is a widespread perception that the development of surveillance technologies in border management is antagonistic to civil liberties. This article attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the need for new technological means to survey the EU's external border. Contrary to the critics, it contends that there is no liberty without security. It argues that the so-called militarisation of the EU's borders is a precondition for countering the dangers which threaten our liberties. These dangers include organised cross-border crime, illegal migration and incursions by hostile powers. The article also demonstrates that the use of border surveillance aircraft contributes to saving lives at the EU's external border and that the use of modern technologies generates record trails which make it easier to track potential human rights abuses committed by border guards. To manage migration, facilitate legitimate commerce, monitor for illegal waste dumping and guarantee the undisturbed functioning of our institutions, improved border management with the help of modern technologies is a necessity.

The idea of a 'two-speed Europe' has often been viewed negatively, as a threat to European unity and a departure from the European ideal. This article argues that the EU has always allowed 'variable geometry', or selective membership, in certain policies and projects. Speaking of 'the danger' of a two-speed Europe therefore makes little sense. Instead of fearing a multi-speed Europe, we should embrace the term as a positive expression of the EU's ability to accommodate the preferences of different national electorates. The variable geometry makes it possible to keep countries inside the EU instead of forcing them out of the Union by imposing unacceptable policies on them. The new set of laws concerning economic governance has introduced even more 'speeds'; however, in principle this does not represent a departure from the existing pattern.

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