On 1 January Sweden took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. It shoulders this key institutional and legislative responsibility during a time of war and economic turmoil, with its government having been in office for just two and a half months. But, argue SIEPS researchers Jakob Lewander and Louise Bengtsson, there are good reasons for thinking that Sweden will succeed in the roles of honest broker and effective crisis manager. (2022:19epa)

Infringement cases at the Court of Justice of the EU are thought to be simple affairs; easy for the European Commission to win. In this European Policy Analysis Markus Johansson and Olof Larsson of the University of Gothenburg show that things are not quite so straightforward: member states are defending – and winning – such cases more often than was previously thought. (2022:18epa)

Following the decisive victory for the right in its parliamentary elections, Italy will shortly have a new government. The Prime Minister will almost certainly be Giorgia Meloni of Fratelli d’Italia. In a new analysis Giovanni Capoccia of the University of Oxford explains what all this might mean for Italy and for the EU. (2022:17epa)

Faced with millions of refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU moved quickly and with remarkable unity. In this essay SIEPS researchers Bernd Parusel and Valeriia Varfolomieieva suggest some lessons that the handling of the situation might hold for the future of EU asylum policy. (2022:16epa)

In 1997 the Court of Justice ruled that the Swedish retail monopoly on alcohol was consistent with EU law. Would it do so again today? In this report Dr Graham Butler (University of Aarhus) notes how Swedish policy and EU law have changed since that decision. He finds that, today, the monopoly’s compatibility with EU law is questionable. (2022:3)

This autumn the European Commission will present a draft of a new EU Global Health Strategy. This is an opportunity for the EU to deepen, broaden and better operationalize its approach in line with Agenda 2030, argues Louise Bengtsson, Senior Researcher at SIEPS. (2022:15epa)

Swedish voters are still reluctant to join the euro. For this situation to change, the EU’s economic and monetary union (EMU) must be able to ensure economic prosperity, writes Karolina Ekholm, Professor in International Economics at Stockholm University. (2022:14epa)

The EU’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is far from perfect. But it is a unique achievement, and it has weathered all the economic and political storms of its existence so far. It will in all likelihood continue to do so, writes Charles Wyplosz, economist and Emeritus Professor at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, as he assesses proposals to safeguard the future of the euro, and makes some of his own. (2022:13epa)

Long criticized as deficient, the EU’s democratic system now finds itself threatened – as do national systems – by populism, technocracy, and rival forms of government. The essays in this collection suggest how EU representative democracy could change in order to survive and perform effectively. Contributions by Ben Crum, Valentin Kreilinger, Christopher Lord, Sonja Puntscher Riekmann, and Göran von Sydow. (2022:2op)

From carbon tariffs to energy taxes, the EU’s climate and environment policies have consequences across the world, and Europe is dependent on the rest of the world for raw materials, investment and expertise for its green transition. The package as a whole, argues SIEPS Senior Advisor Mats Engström, is unlikely to succeed without more engagement, especially with countries in the Global South. (2022:10epa)