Mujtaba Rahman

1 week ago | ecfr.eu | Mark Leonard |Mujtaba Rahman

Dec 17, 2024 | politico.eu | Mujtaba Rahman

Repurposing unused NextGenerationEU funds is another option, since only 41 percent of the €650 billion post-Covid Recovery and Resilience Facility has been used so far. But while the target is €300 billion by the end of the year, the facility is due to expire by the end of 2026 and is unlikely to be extended. The main issue, however, is that all these options are technically and politically complicated, as they require the involvement of the EU’s 27 national parliaments — at least to some degree.

Dec 2, 2024 | politico.eu | Mujtaba Rahman

Mujtaba Rahman is the head of Eurasia Group’s Europe practice. He tweets at @Mij_Europe. French opposition to the EU-South America trade deal has never been more broad-based or determined. The draft treaty is detested by French farmers and environmental activists alike. It has been rejected by President Emmanuel Macron and opposed by his Prime Minister Michel Barnier. And all of the country’s political parties — from the hard left to the far right — are against it.

Nov 4, 2024 | politico.eu | Mujtaba Rahman

Mujtaba Rahman is the head of Eurasia Group’s Europe practice. He tweets at @Mij_Europe. A profound sense of malaise has taken over the EU. Politics within the bloc’s two largest member countries, France and Germany, is profoundly broken — as is the relationship between them. Meanwhile, weak leaders, subdued growth and major fiscal and migration-related challenges have resulted in an acute sense of drift across the Continent.

Oct 9, 2024 | politico.eu | Mujtaba Rahman

Mujtaba Rahman is the head of Eurasia Group’s Europe practice. He tweets at @Mij_Europe. French Prime Minister Michel Barnier inherited a deep fiscal crisis, which has only grown deeper during his first month in office. In his inaugural speech to parliament last week, Barnier tried to turn the fiscal bad news to his political advantage, challenging the disparate and mutually detesting forces within the National Assembly to put country before ideological or factional interests.