Hervorragender Artikel über eine Blackbox: Was passiert eigentlich mit Menschen nachdem sie abgeschoben wurden? Diese Geschichten kann eigentlich niemand kalt lassen. 👇 taz.de/Zurueck-in-N...

My 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣6️⃣ preview is out! (And I myself am on my winter break. Happy holidays and all the best for the new year!)

Meine Vorausschau auf das Jahr 2026 ist da! (Und ich selbst damit für die nächsten Tage in der Winterpause. Frohe Feiertage und einen guten Rutsch!)

Though worth noting the French and Italians argue that in bouncing the Germans and Finns into accepting a path towards Eurobonds they have put EU Europe's geopolitical ambitions on a more sustainable long term footing

Offene Grenzen seien sehr wohl realisierbar, meint Polit-Ökonom Fabian Georgi im Interview mit der taz: taz.de/!6136084/

Wenn 🇺🇦 den Krieg gewinnt und 🇷🇺 Reparationen zahlt, kann 🇺🇦 den Hilfskredit zurückzahlen und 🇪🇺 entstehen keine Kosten. Wenn 🇺🇦 den Krieg nicht gewinnt und 🇷🇺 keine Reparationen zahlt, würde 🇪🇺 auch mit dem "reparations loan" auf den Kosten sitzen bleiben. Der Unterschied ist wirklich nicht so groß.

"Standort-Patriotismus" bedeutet in der Regel, dass Unternehmen teure inländische statt günstigerer ausländischer Produkte kaufen und die erhöhten Kosten an die Verbraucher:innen weitergeben - hier also Quersubventionierung der deutschen Autoindustrie durch die Kund:innen der Deutschen Bahn. Hm.

Es ist eine befremdliche Mediensitte, Treffen des Europäischen Rates als Nullsummenspiele mit "Siegern" und "Verlierern" zu behandeln. Man kann an Merz' Europapolitik einiges kritisieren. Aber nicht auf seinem Plan zu beharren, sondern das Ziel auf anderem Weg zu erreichen, spricht eher für ihn.

Der (europäische) Föderalist, most-read article in 2025: “A fight for our future”: Ursula von der Leyen’s 2025 State of the European Union address By M.ÅLANDER, C.BUCHANAN PONCZEK, S.HEINIKOSKI, M.MÜLLER, K.MUSTASILTA, J.PLOTTKA, S.PORNSCHLEGEL, F.PRANDIN, A.RAUHALA, S.SALO, T.R.STEWART #SOTEU25

Der (europäische) Föderalist, meistgelesene Artikel 2025 1 Der EUROMAT zur Bundestagswahl 2025 Von MANUEL MÜLLER @manuelmueller.foederalist.eu @helloeuromat.bsky.social #BTW25 #Euromat

Explainer

This is an historic step for Europe.

And by the way, the problem that the ECB's one-size-fits-all money policy poses to countries suffering from asymmetric shocks is not new. We had this debate during the eurocrisis, and there's a well-known solution: an EU unemployment reinsurance scheme. 🇫🇮 might want to push this idea in the future.

It's good that the EPP has a clear line only to cooperate with "pro-European" far-right parties because otherwise, we might even get a debate about #Finland leaving the euro... oh, wait! (Original article in Finnish here: www.kauppalehti.fi/uutiset/a/d9...)

In Trumps erster Amtszeit gab es einen Twitterbot, der Trump-Tweets im Design offizieller Regierungserklärungen wiedergab, um satirisch den Stilbruch gegenüber früheren US-Präsidenten hervorzuheben (www.bbc.com/news/newsbea...). Inzwischen lässt Trump im Weißen Haus Tafeln im selben Stil aufhängen.

Still funny to see how they distinguish between "illegal content" and "content that needs to be removed under local laws".

Gestern fand in Helsinki der #Ostflanke -Gipfel #EasternFlankSummit statt, bei dem sich die EU-Länder mit einer gemeinsamen Grenze mit Russland für die anstehenden Verhandlungen zum Mehrjährigen Finanzrahmen koordiniert haben. Dazu habe ich dem Hessischen Rundfunk ein paar Fragen beantwortet:

Ein anderer Deutungsvorschlag ist, dass die Berlin-Gespräche primär an die 🇪🇺 Öffentlichkeit gerichtet sind. Als Reaktion auf den Witkoff-Plan signalisieren sie, dass (a) 🇪🇺 in den 🇺🇦-Verhandlungen relevant bleibt, (b) für Friedenslösungen offen ist, (c) diese Lösungen von 🇷🇺, nicht 🇺🇦 abgelehnt werden.

When I picture an attack on NATO, tanks rolling across our borders are not the first thing that comes to my mind. I see massive information campaigns shaping public opinion. Politicians being bought. Sabotage such as arson attacks or cutting of underwater cables like in the Baltic Sea. 👇🏻

Good thread explaining why all EU options to financially help Ukraine are difficult and the over-complicated (and legally "creative") reparations loan seems to be the best solution after all. Takeaway: Abolish unanimity in budgetary matters or face the need to choose among suboptimal solutions. ⬇️

Der (europäische) Föderalist, meistgelesene Artikel 2025 4 Nichtwähler wider Willen: Zum versagten Wahlrecht für Auslandsdeutsche bei der Bundestagswahl Von MANUEL MÜLLER @manuelmueller.foederalist.eu #BTW25

This is valid also for the EU. Our institutional problems are different from those of the US (although constitutional petrification & need for supermajorities are shared issues). But here, too, decisionmakers focus too much on "better output" and too little on structural impediments preventing it.

It is almost 10 years since Hanspeter Kriesi published his seminal article on the politicization of European Integration @jcms-eu.bsky.social. A short thread on how things stand as of 2024, with @chesdata.bsky.social, looking at salience, clarity, and unity of party positions towards the EU 🧵:

Interesting thread ⬇️

This will harm Germany's standing, as well as future prospects for Germany's participation in peace-keeping missions abroad.

It's great to see the EU act in support of Ukraine. On a purely institutional note, however, if Art. 122 TFEU can be used for this, it can be used for anything. Which means that we *urgently* need treaty reform to ensure that the EP gets codecision rights in the Art. 122 procedure.

FIIA's Senior Research Fellow @manuelmueller.foederalist.eu has been included in the “Top 100 of the Table 2025” list published by Europe.Table. Müller was selected in the Science category. Warmest congratulations! 👏

Der (europäische) Föderalist, most-read articles in 2025 8 Out now: The 2024 European Parliament Elections – A Turn to the Right in the Shadow of War By MANUEL MÜLLER @manuelmueller.foederalist.eu #EP2024

Der (europäische) Föderalist, meistgelesene Artikel 2025 8 Koalitionen der Willigen innerhalb der EU: Chancen und Risiken differenzierter Integration Von MANUEL MÜLLER @manuelmueller.foederalist.eu #DifferenzierteIntegration #KoalitionDerWilligen

I think the reinterpretation of the ECHR they seek has been clarified elsewhere: less protection for "the wrong people" (sic!), incl. a limitation of the scope of protection under art. 8 (right to private and family life) and art. 3 (prohibition of torture and degrading treatment). It's dystopian.

Honoured to be recognised by @table.media alongside such distinguished colleagues!

Let's face it: In my lifetime, there hasn't been a German chancellor who has been as bad in public communication as Friedrich Merz is. The bar is not particularly high. But after "Stadtbild" and his Brasil comments, this is Merz' third case of terrible messaging in less than two months.

Hey, it's an EU birthday again! 🇪🇺🎉 (Also, the Maastricht Summit started #OTD 34 years ago. But I guess we'll celebrate that one next year.)

Now that it is becoming increasingly obvious that Denmark's migration policy has been a failure, making many people's lives more difficult without actually helping to avoid political polarisation, the rest of the EU is finally falling in line.

Der (europäische) Föderalist, meistgelesene Artikel 2025 9 Das europapolitische Quartett: Sieben Schlüsselmomente deutscher Europapolitik unter der Ampel-Koalition Mit CARMEN DESCAMPS, MANUEL MÜLLER und JULIAN PLOTTKA @manuelmueller.foederalist.eu #EuropapolitischesQuartett #BTW25

Der (europäische) Föderalist, most-read articles in 2025 9 Non-voters against their will: On the disenfranchisement of Germans living abroad in the last Bundestag elections By MANUEL MÜLLER @manuelmueller.foederalist.eu #BTW25

Will the Nordio reform weaken liberal democracy in Italy?

A little end-of-year thread with the ten most-read blog posts in English of 2025 (excluding #EPseatprojection and continuously updated articles) 🧵

Ein kleiner Adventskalender-Thread mit den zehn meistgelesenen deutschsprachigen Blogposts von 2025 (ausgenommen #Europawahlprojektion und laufend aktualisierte Seiten) 🧵

From the @wsj.com chief foreign correspondent

Wondering if the Spitzenkandidaten system will survive? Check out this volume and our chapter that analyses the third round of EP elections with one dominant lead candidate - and how the original idea has been transformed.

It's a very normal day over at the other site.

The US National Security Strategy now explicitly supports "unapologetic celebration of European nations' individual character and history" and sees the "growing influence of European patriotic parties" (i.e., the far right) as "cause for great optimism". No big surprise, but remarkably explicit.

Dept of No Comment

I'm generally not a fan of the protectionist/autarkist rhetoric around many "Buy European" initiatives. But there are some cases where it just makes a lot of sense to reduce dependencies - in particular when there are free open-source alternatives easily available.

CJEU, free movement law/LGBT rights New judgment: Member States (in this case Poland) are obliged to recognise same sex marriages of EU citizens who have exercised free movement rights curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/Jo...

This story should be covered waaaaayy more than it is. The US has sanctioned six judges if the international criminal court ICC, because Trump didn’t like them issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. www.lemonde.fr/en/internati...

After more than 10 years of “the Danish Model”, nativism is hegemonic in the country, the far right polls near level highs again, and the Social Democrats lost Copenhagen and poll at historic low. European Social Democrats should look at the facts, not the myths! Me in @theguardian.com

In May, @sophiepornschlegel.bsky.social, @nhelwig.bsky.social, Julian Plottka, and I discussed on @foederalist.eu whether the US was becoming more authoritarian, less influential, or both. Well, it's both.

So Elon Musk's AI engages in Holocaust denial now, and there are still democratic governments with active X accounts.