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Finland’s Long Road to NATO

Eoin Micheál McNamara (Finnish Institute of International Affairs) eoin.mcnamara@fiia.fi Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) on April 4 2023 marked a historic shift that has strengthened security in Northern Europe. Helsinki will now fully contribute to collective defence and deterrence under NATO’s Article 5. This finally secures a position for Finland as…
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The EU Showed Resilience in its Response to Brexit

Stefan Telle (European University Institute) On this Europe Day (May 9), it is worthwhile to reflect on the fact that seven years have passed since the British membership referendum of 23 June 2016. At that time, few had anticipated the outcome. But with 52% of British voter preferring exit over voice, for the first time…
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Costello, Canada, CETA, and the Constitution

Seán Rainford (Dublin City University) The judgment handed down by the Irish Supreme Court in Costello v Ireland last November was enormous by any standard – in terms of its physical length (running to over 500 pages) and its likely consequences for Irish constitutional law and our external relations. By a majority of 4-3, the Court…
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The Stormont Brake: a break in the storm?

Jasmine Faudone (Dublin City University) On 27 February 2023, the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, and the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced an agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol: the Windsor Framework. On the one hand, the adoption of the Windsor Framework was positively welcomed as it represents a break…
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The 25th Anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement & the Windsor Framework

Ian Cooper (DCU Brexit Institute) On Thursday 6 April 2023, the DCU Brexit Institute hosted an online event, The 25th Anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement & the Windsor Framework. The event featured a Keynote Address from former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. This was followed by a panel discussion featuring Federico Fabbrini, Full Professor of…
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GFA25 and the Windsor Framework

Mary C. Murphy (University College Cork) The 1998 Good Friday Agreement is 25 years old. The document itself is little more than 25 pages in length. It contained a series of provisions, proposals and possibilities. It was a complex compromise, born out of consensus – a sincere if necessarily messy and ambiguous effort at addressing…
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FuelEU Maritime Regulation — A Step Ahead for the Decarbonization of Maritime Transport

Cáit Gleeson* (Dublin City University) and Goran Dominioni** (Dublin City University) Last week, legislators from the European Parliament and Council reached provisional agreement on the FuelEU Maritime regulation. The regulation aims to increase the use of alternative low-carbon fuels in the sector. The initiative is part of the EU’s Fit for 55 package, which involves…
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A New (Dis)Agreement on the Path to Normalization between Kosovo and Serbia

Gëzim Visoka (Dublin City University) In recent months, the EU and US have diplomatically pressed Kosovo and Serbia to accept a proposal for the further normalization of bilateral relations. Although this agreement has been praised by the EU and its member states, the US, the UN Secretary-General, and others, as a crucial step towards normalizing…
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The Windsor-Westminster Split-Screen Drama

Ian Cooper (DCU Brexit Institute) On Wednesday, two separate political dramas unfolded side-by-side in the UK parliament. Most of the attention was focused on former PM Boris Johnson, who faced the Privileges Committee to account for his actions in the Partygate scandal. However, of much greater consequence was the debate that took place on the…
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Should the EU Banking Union Fear Repercussions from the SVB case?

Maria Ana Barata (EUI) and Christy Ann Petit (DCU) The financial crisis ghosts are back since the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the United States started to preoccupy global financial supervisors seriously. Are Banking Union supervisors about to face their biggest nightmare? What the SVB case has showed so far was not a failure of…
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Italy’s Centre-Left Gets a New Leader: “Once again, they didn’t see us coming”

Lucrezia Rossi (DCU Brexit Institute) and Niccolò Ruffin (Trade Association Officer) On Sunday 12 March, the Assembly of delegates of the Italian Partito Democratico (PD) officially appointed Elly Schlein as the party Secretary and Stefano Bonaccini as its President. As of today, Schlein is the ninth leader of the PD since its inception 16 years ago. “Together,…
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Estonia’s Liberal Wave

Stefano Braghiroli (University of Tartu) Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Estonia delivered a very positive result to the governing centre-right Reform party (31%) and a personal victory for Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. The strong popular support for Ms. Kallas’ leadership was confirmed by the record number of individual preferences received – the highest among any elected…
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Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: A Model for France?

Camille Barbe (University of Bordeaux / DCU Brexit Institute) On March 1st 2023, and a week ahead of International women’s day, the European Commission representation in Ireland hosted an event titled “Rocking the system since 1973: The EU and Ireland working together for Gender Equality”. During her intervention, Chair of the Irish citizens’ assembly on…
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The Windsor Framework – Does it ‘cut the mustard’?

Feargal Cochrane (University of Kent) First things first. The Windsor Framework moves things on significantly in the whole Brexit process. While everyone (not least myself) is focused on its implications for Northern Ireland, there is a bigger picture. The UK government has finally reached an agreement with the European Union over the operation of the Northern…
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The Windsor Framework: or The Law & Politics of Reconnecting the UK to Europe

Federico Fabbrini (Professor of Law, Dublin City University; Founding Director, Brexit Institute; Visiting Professor, Princeton University) On Monday 27 February 2023 the Government of the United Kingdom (EU) and the Commission of the European Union (EU) announced they had reached a deal to settle disagreements around the Irish Protocol. The deal, known as the Windsor…
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The Protocol Deal: A “Just Like That” Moment Seven Years in the Making

Colin Murray (Newcastle University) It takes a long time for the fury and animosity to subside over an event like Brexit. We’ve spent seven years going back and forward over the reasons why imposing a customs and regulatory border across the island of Ireland is a bad idea, and multiple variations of an alternative to…
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