Given how consequential it may be for hundreds of thousands of Poles living in the United Kingdom, the question of Brexit is strangely absent from the public debate just before European elections. At the same time it is one of the core issues dividing the government and the opposition. How is it possible?

In the context of Brexit and less cooperative governments both in Warsaw and Rome, France and Germany have been realizing that they need new partners to push forward the European integration agenda. Their attention has turned to Spain, the fourth largest economy in the Eurozone, which has been growing robustly for the past five years and is staunchly pro-European. However, there are also doubts whether Spain has the economic and diplomatic muscle as well as the political stability to fill in for other European heavyweights. It also remains unclear whether it even wants to be the third partner in a well-established marriage. Bringing together policy-makers and experts from Germany, France and Spain just two days after the Spanish Parliamentary election of 28th April, we are going to discuss the prospects of “a new Big Three” European cooperation in light of the Spanish election results and the upcoming European elections.

After the British Parliament defeated Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal with the European Union for a second time in mid-March, it narrowly supported a request to the EU for an extended Brexit deadline. This week, May asked for a three-month extension and her European counterparts granted a “flextension.” The deadline was pushed back two weeks, with leaders giving May until April 12 to pass her deal or “indicate a way forward.” If the deal does pass, she has until May 22 to adopt implementing legislation. Although March 29 is no longer the cliff edge, the Brexit endgame is still heading to the wire with no clear way forward.

The Brexit ‘flextension’ has five implications for Parliament, some of which require action speedily now that parliamentarians have returned from the Easter recess.

Das Zusammenwachsen Europas hat zu Wohlstand und Prosperität in den Mitgliedsländern der EuropäischenUnion geführt. Der Einigungsprozess hat in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten wesentlich zur Stabilisierung der Demokratien sowie zur Stärkung der Volkswirtschaften beigetragen. Die EU ist zugleich beispielhaft für die überregionale Zusammenarbeit in den Bereichen Wirtschaft, Verkehr, Dienstleistungen oder auch Raumentwicklung. Jedoch steht sie gleichzeitig vor erheblichen Herausforderungen: Globaler Wettbewerb, wachsende Blockbildung, Populismus, Nachhaltigkeit, Eurozonen-Stabilität oder Brexit. In der Veranstaltung soll die Frage diskutiert werden, wie es um die Europäische Union steht. Warum ist die EU für Bremen und warum ist Bremen für die EU wichtig? Vor dem Hintergrund der Wahl zur20. Bremischen Bürgerschaft und der Europawahl 2019 sind dies zentrale Aspekte. Denn die Regionen können eine Brücke nach Europa schlagen und zur Stärkung von Wohlstand und Wachstum beitragen.

“Populists are whipping up a storm as Europe faces lurch to the right”; “Explained: the rise and rise of populism in Europe”. Headlines about the European Parliament election in May scream that 2019 is set to be Act Three in the Donald Trump and Brexit drama, this time across the European Union. They warn of a grand showdown between those who believe in an open Europe and those who believe in closed national societies, with migration as the key mobilising issue.But are the headline-writers correct? Is this really what is brewing? New research by the European Council on Foreign Relations and YouGov suggests not.