Daily Maverick’s Post

The subject of this paper of the IfG should draw the attention of far more citizen in UK. I fear however that very few citizen and organisations of citizen have pay at least some attention to that subject. Seen From Belgium, what I read in the introduction is really frightening, not that we are very efficient in this area, but we have probably better structures (and old traditions starting before Belgium became an independent country). The document prepared by the IfG is good for professionals in this area but not as an introduction to the problem though the latter is really huge. Between the general presentation and the full document, for me there is something missing that could be presented as well by another institution than the IfG. There are two major aspects to be analysed: Is the current structure (as such) really effective and Is that structure correctly used? The second issue is surely the most problematic but there is surely a lot of room for improvement (including modernisation) on the existing structures. Of course, this is not at all in favour of the plutocracy and of the donors to the political party and they have interest that nothing is done to change the current situation. on the opposite, any responsible political party should give a major attention to this issue in preparing their manifesto for the coming GE. Even if Sunak manage to have them at the latest date possible, they are no more distant and it is now that they must be prepared. This is an issue for the British citizen, but I want to draw their attention to it. https://lnkd.in/e2wUDws3

With the UK Parliament back in session and a busy legislative agenda ahead, it's vital for businesses and stakeholders to stay informed and proactive. Dods Political Intelligence offers a collection of lookaheads, providing a comprehensive overview of key Parliamentary milestones, events, and reports over the next six months. Our report covers crucial sectors such as: - Economy & Financial Services - Health & Social Care - Energy, Utilities & Net Zero - Transport & Infrastructure - Defence, Foreign Affairs & International Development - And many more Stay ahead of the curve by understanding what’s coming next in your industry: https://lnkd.in/ehpcHKdz #UKParliament #BusinessStrategy #LegislativeUpdates #UKPolitics

The composition of the new European Parliament has been decided, and we now know which political groups will head each committee. These committee chairs wield considerable influence, shaping legislation and guiding policy discussions. Here's an overview of who holds these key positions and why it matters. 🗳️ Parliament Breakdown (2024-2029): 🔹EPP: 188 seats - Energy, foreign affairs and agriculture committees 🔹S&D: 136 seats - International trade, regional development and economic affairs committees 🔹Renew: 76 seats - Security and defence, legal affairs and development committees 🔹New Patriots for Europe (NPE): 84 seats - Culture and transport committees 🔹Greens/EFA: 53 seats - Internal market committee 🔹ECR: 78 seats - Budget and civil liberties committees 🔹Left: 46 seats - Employment and social affairs committee Why it Matters ❓ 🔹Legislation Influence: Committee chairs facilitate consensus, ensure compliance with parliamentary rules, and guide committee members in their work. 📜 🔹Power Balance: The new Parliament makeup sees EPP and S&D holding major roles, but NPE's rise shifts the dynamics significantly. ⚖️ The NPE becoming the third largest group marks a significant shift in the power balance, allowing them to influence important policy areas, such as transport, heavily. This new composition of the Parliament will shape the EU's legislative direction for the next five years, impacting key areas from economic policy to environmental sustainability. #EUElections2024 #EuropeanParliament

The wait is over! The EU Political Guidelines 2024-2029 - the draft 'coalition agreement' for the EU 📁- are out. Of course we will see this afternoon whether this is enough to get President Von Der Leyen re-elected (very likely yes, based on the ovation she just received). After having skimmed through them, a couple of things are already standing out: ✅ Competitiveness and the EU Green Deal are closely integrated as the first part of the Guidelines. Much earlier than for example Migration, Defense or the Rule of Law (conditionality for releasing EU Funds) ✅ A lot of first 100 days actions, a lot of different Funds 💰(climate, CleanTech, housing, agriculture, biotech, defense) and a big role for the European Investment Bank (EIB) - as always the perennial question will be: new money or recycled money? Moreover, while the section on the Budget/MFF aspires to a more focussed 🎯, simpler (with fewer programmes) and more impactful, the Guidelines do read like a long wish list from all Political Groups. ✅ A 90% 2040 emission reduction target, to be enshrined in the European Climate Law 🌍 let's see how this sits with the 'right' side of the European Parliament. ✅ Quite a few 'recycled' ideas - a Vice-President for Implementation, Simplification and Inter-institutional Relations sounds ominously similar to President Juncker's first Vice President for Better Regulation. A 28th regime for innovative companies, a 'competitiveness' (or proportionality check) for SMEs, a new Inter-institutional Agreement... Nothing really new. ✅ A clear call at the end to launch discussions on Treaty Change ✅ A strong focus on Housing as part of a Social Europe - with the announcement of a "European Affordable Housing Plan" 🏡 & "Pan European Investment Plan for Affordable Housing". While this taps into political sentiment in many countries, as President Von Der Leyen herself recognizes, this will stretch the principle of Subsidiarity... watch Member States reactions. ✅ Buried in there, something I believe is critical - Risk Absorbing Measures to help the 'investability' of necessary investments/VC as well as evaluating the existence of regulatory barriers to fund innovation/start-ups. Let's hope this finally gets the attention it deserves to make infrastructure/VC and equity far more interesting for institutonal investors. While re-election is likely, let's see whether the content of the Guidelines may make the nomination/confirmation of certain Commissioners/portfolios complicated... That may also impact the allocation of roles to Commissioners from specific political groups (how likely are you to vote against one of your own?). And let's see how the European Council and Member State react as this all points to a larger EU Budget/MFF, although quite a few government will aim for a smaller MFF, also since their budget deficits are growing . But that's all for after the summer! #euelections #eugreendeal #lettareport #draghireport #EUsinglemarket

𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱! The #European #Parliament has given its final approval to Ursula von der Leyen’s new #European #Commission with 370 votes in favor, 282 against, and 36 abstentions. The executive will officially take office on 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭, kick-starting the five-year legislative cycle. This marks the beginning of a crucial term, with transformative policies set to address Europe’s biggest challenges, including bolstering #research and #innovation under initiatives like #Horizon #Europe. ⭐ Read more: https://lnkd.in/emB3nGCW #HorizonEurope #EUResearch #Innovation #STEMwise

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The new #EuropeanParliament (2024-2029) has been decided, with key committee chairs announced. These positions influence #legislation and #policy discussions. Breakdown: 🔹 #EPP: 188 seats - Energy, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture 🔹 #SD: 136 seats - Trade, Development, Economic Affairs 🔹 #Renew: 76 seats - Security, Legal Affairs, Development 🔹 #NPE: 84 seats - Culture, Transport 🔹 #Greens / #EFA: 53 seats - Internal Market 🔹 #ECR: 78 seats - Budget, Civil Liberties 🔹 #Left: 46 seats - Employment, Social Affairs NPE's rise shifts the power balance, impacting #EU policy for the next five years. #EUElections2024 #EuropeanParliament

🌟 POLICY PRIORITIES OF THE EUROPEAN PARTIES, WEIGHTED 🌟 As you probably know, the Commission is currently working on its next term's strategic priorities. The process has many inputs, not least of course the Commission's own (as we noted in an earlier post, internal briefing books setting out a draft of these priorities have been submitted, and keep in mind that the Commission is working on this with, simultaneously, an eye on the 2025 Work Programme). The Council meanwhile is working on its own input into this process as we speak - the Letta Report is out, and the Draghi report is around the corner. Today however we are taking a look at the European Parties' contributions. All parties have adopted their manifestos, so we have analysed them in terms of what they mean for the parties' impact on the Commission's priorities, by looking at each parties' political priorities and weighting these by each party's likely political influence on the process. Check it out:

How can UK government be more effective when addressing chronic problems like inequalities or crises like climate change? This idea of ‘effective government’ has no clear, coherent, or agreed definition. Rather, advocates of reform identify multiple principles to which to aspire, including to: - Hold to account the people and organisations responsible for policy. - Anticipate and prevent policy problems rather than react to crisis. - Avoid power hoarding at the ‘centre’. - Co-produce policy with citizens. - Ensure policy coherence and policymaking integration. - Foster evidence-informed policymaking. - Mainstream equity, fairness, or justice across all policy. - Ensure that public services deliver public value. There is no technical way to combine these principles or resolve their trade-offs. Rather, policymakers make political choices to signal rhetorical support for all of these aims but demonstrate strong support for some. This tension between effective government principles is at the heart of a dominant and pessimistic academic story of UK policymaking in which the principle of Westminster-style accountability overshadows all others. Consequently, policymaking is inevitably short-termist, elitist, and centralist, and other reform efforts are doomed to failure. We recognise this problem but present a cautiously optimistic account about future prospects, grounded in new efforts to promote ‘Positive Public Policy’ (PoPP). We describe the potential to reinvigorate a range of approaches including: - Strategic state approaches to encourage more policy coherence and policymaking integration. - Systems thinking and place-based approaches to situate holistic government in more local decision-making contexts. - Evidence-informed government, to reflect massive UK government investment in research for policy. - Renewed forms of public participation to boost democratic legitimacy and inform policy. - Behavioural public policy, to understand how people think and behave and support behavioural change. What is a more positive account of the limited progress of these reforms? First, although rather ambiguous, they are all sufficiently clear to prompt debate and collaboration on how to translate abstract aims into concrete change. Second, although we may witness short-term setbacks, repeated reform efforts often have a cumulative effect. Third, although there is limited financial capacity to support major reforms, these initiatives support the new government’s focus on reforms that offer tangible rewards from low investment. This new reality provides an important window of opportunity for learning and applying the lessons of Positive Public Policy. Full article: Paul Cairney, John Boswell, Sarah Ayres, Catherine Durose, Dr Ian C Elliott, Matthew Flinders, Steve Martin, Liz Richardson (2024) ‘The state of British policymaking: How can UK government become more effective?’, Parliamentary Affairs, https://lnkd.in/edXQadDY

📰 EPC's Eric Maurice latest #PolicyBrief provides recommendations that the 2024-2029 Strategic Agenda should follow: 🔸 Set objectives, not priorities. 🔸 Commit to whatever it takes. 🔸 Link the Agenda to the next Multiannual Financial Framework. 🔸 Organise follow-up on implementation and adaptation. 🔸 Clarify the relationship between European Council and Commission. 🔸 Focus on challenges and options, rather than issues. Read it here 👇