Think Tank

The EU is facing the challenge of mobilising massive investments required to meet its strategic priorities and must find effective ways to finance them. In response, the European Commission published the savings and investments union (SIU) action plan on 19 March 2025, designed to channel EU savings into productive investments. This briefing presents an overview of the plan. The SIU was launched in the context of the Draghi and Letta reports, which set out recommendations for strengthening the EU's ...

Adopted in 1989, the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was the first international instrument to explicitly recognise children as human beings with innate rights. As of 2025, it has been ratified by 196 countries, including all EU Member States, and it has become the landmark treaty on children's rights, outlining universal standards for the care, treatment, survival, development, protection and participation of all children. The promotion and protection of children's ...

Child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse are among the worst forms of violence against children and know no borders. The rise in these crimes is exacerbated by the use of digital technology. Harmonised national laws and international cooperation are essential to improve prevention and protect victims. This is a further update of a publication originally drafted by Ingeborg Odink in November 2024.

Highlights of the November I plenary session included debates on the architecture and governance of the new 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework, and on the conclusions of the European Council meeting of 23 October 2025. Further debates concerned Parliament's statement commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Islamist attacks of 13 November 2015 in Paris; Council and Commission statements on the illegal unilateral declaration of the secessionist entity created by Türkiye in Cyprus and the continued ...

The fourth summit between the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) took place in Santa Marta, Colombia, on 9-10 November 2025. With the adoption of a joint declaration, the EU and CELAC sent a strong signal about defending multilateralism, cooperation and a rules-based international order. The partners agreed, among other things, to fight drug trafficking and organised crime through a new security alliance. The summit was partly overshadowed by the poor participation ...