“The European Commission needs to be stronger. If it is to play the role of an economic supervisor we need Commissioners to be genuine leaders, with authority, personality  and charisma  to be true representatives of common European interests. To be more effective, the Commission should be smaller. The EC now has 28 members. Member States should rotate to have their Commissioner.

The Dutch view of Europe is reflected in a policy document setting out nine broad principles and 54 specific recommendations. The guiding principle is described as "European where necessary, national where possible" and calls for a European Union that is more modest, more sober and at the same time more effective. The document calls for a significant scaling back of EU powers and notes that the Dutch Presidency in the first half of 2016 could play a role in promoting such an agenda.

Ulrike Lunacek, MEP, is Spokesperson for European Affairs for the Austrian Greens and the Greens/EFA Foreign Affairs Spokesperson in the European Parliament. She is a declared candidate of the European Green Party for nomination to the presidency of the European Commission.

"Our vision is of a post-national Europe, a Europe of citizens, a United States of Europe with democratic rule and federal structures enshrined in the Constitution of a Republic.

1. Democratic reform of Europe

President François Hollande’s vision of Europe is in line with that of the founder of the French Fifth Republic and president from 1959-1969, General Charles de Gaulle. It is thus very ‘French’. Europe has to be in the interests of France, not the other way round. France is a net contributor to the EU budget but the greatest beneficiary of the Common Agricultural Policy. Mr Hollande wants solidarity at the European level with eurobonds and a common budget capacity, but certainly not a complete loss of sovereignty on major issues such as the French fiscal policy.

"Je plaide pour une véritable intégration européenne plus poussée à 17 pays, avec des convergences politiques, budgétaires, économiques et scientifiques. Une intégration européenne plus poussée pour une plus grande cohésion régionale et sociale. Une intégration européenne plus poussée à 17 pour davantage de solidarité et de responsabilité collective.

Prime Minister Cameron identifies three challenges facing the EU. Firstly, how it changes in response to the eurozone crisis. Secondly, how it changes to compete in the global market. And, thirdly, how it narrows the gap between itself and its citizens.

Public policy advocacy is generally defined as the attempted or successful influencing of legislative-administrative decisions made by public authorities through the use of interested representatives. A public policy advocate , or interest representative, is an individual or organization that seeks to influence policy.

Extract from an essay written by Josef Janning of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)

Chancelor Angela Merkel has achieved a remarkable 41.5% of the vote (see breakdown below). The next weeks in Berlin are going to turn into a period of gamesmanship as Mrs. Merkel tries to form a stable governing coalition. Her only options are the Greens and the Social Democrats. Germans would be happy with a so-called 'grand coalition' with the Social Democrats because it would unite the country's two largest political parties. Such a government would also have a majority in the upper house of parliament- the Bundesrat offering support for Mrs.Merkel throughout the legislature.

The ranking of the EU richest countries is based on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) database of April 2013. The ranking is done according to GDP based on purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita.