In 2020, the pandemic upset our lives and upended the world as we know it – and Europe with it. EU Member States launched an unprecedented €750 billion Next Generation EU recovery package, but then bickered on how to use its funds, or whether to tie them to the respect of the rule of law. Meanwhile, big powers were on the move: from the United States where a newly elected President promises to rekindle diplomacy by “bringing America back” to multilateral forums, to an increasingly assertive China and a looming Russia.
Will 2021 be, at long last, Europe's hour? Or will EU Member States continue to prefer to “put their countries first”? Is there room for common action on economic coordination, migration, defence, and democracy? Will Europe be able to speak with one voice to its biggest partners and competitors, as well as in regional arenas? The ISPI Report 2021, edited by Alessandro Colombo and Paolo Magri, sets out to answer to all this and more.
Index
Introduction
Alessandro Colombo, Professor, University of Milan and ISPI
Paolo Magri, Executive Vice President, ISPI
Part I – The International Context
1. Covid-19 and the International System
Alessandro Colombo, University of Milan and ISPI
Part II – The European Reaction. The Internal Side
2. Recovery (Fund): Europe's Economic Reaction to the Pandemic
Franco Bruni, ISPI Vice President and Bocconi University
3. Migration and Covid-19: Europe at a Standstill
Matteo Villa, ISPI
4. Covid-19 and Democracy
Paolo Segatti, University of Milan
5. Cohesion among Member States: An Endless Back and Forth
Beda Romano, Il Sole 24 Ore
Part III – The European Role in the International Context
6. How Will Covid-19 Change Europe’s Security Policies?
Davide Fiammenghi, University of Bologna, and Andrea Locatelli, Catholic University of Milan
7. From Trump’s Europhobia to Biden’s Atlanticism: The EU and the U.S.
Mario Del Pero, ISPI and SciencesPo Paris
8. Brussels and Beijing: So Near and Yet so Far?
Guido Samarani, Ca' Foscari University of Venice
Europe’s Reaction to China’s Technology Offensive
Giulia Sciorati, ISPI
9. The European Union and Russia. The Need for Dialogue
Aldo Ferrari, ISPI and Ca' Foscari University of Venice
10. Europe and the MENA Region: A Never-Ending Absence
Relations with North Africa and the Gulf
Armando Sanguini, ISPI
Relations with the Middle East
Ugo Tramballi, ISPI and Il Sole 24 Ore
11. The EU’s New Africa Strategy: Brussels' Proposal and African Responses
Giovanni Carbone, ISPI and University of Milan
EU-ACP and the Post-Cotonou Agreement
Camillo Casola, ISPI
Conclusion
Giampiero Massolo, President, ISPI and Fincantieri
