Philippe Legrain

Boris Johnson won the December 2019 UK general election on the promise that he had an “oven-ready deal” to “get Brexit done.” But while the UK did leave the EU in January 2020, Johnson’s deal included a deeply contentious protocol governing the special trade status of Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s successful negotiation […]

Far-right populism is not dead, but it can be defeated. Are Europeans up to the task? Read my latest for Project Syndicate

It’s economically significant and politically beneficial, but it leaves the eurozone’s deeper problems unresolved. Read my latest for Project Syndicate

As Europe faces an unprecedented coronavirus crisis that is so far hitting Italy and Spain particularly hard and is straining the EU to breaking point, an exceptional “corona bond” would provide the fiscal firepower to support stricken businesses and workers and demonstrate European solidarity. If not now, when? Read my latest for Brussels Times My […]

A new report I co-authored for OPEN with Hosuk Lee-Makiyama explains how AI could help EU institutions become more capable, competent, cost-effective and closer to citizens. Check it out here.

British democracy was once widely seen as a model for others to follow. But it has now sunk into its deepest crisis in living memory. At stake is not only whether the UK crashes out of the EU without an exit deal, but also how far a country once famed for stability and moderation descends […]

Denmark’s Social Democrats won the election there this month on an anti-immigrant platform. So is immigrant bashing a vote winner for Europe’s beleaguered progressives? Read my latest for Project Syndicate

With the next few months set to be dominated by unseemly haggling over top EU jobs, starting with the presidency of the European Commission, it may feel like business as usual in Brussels. But if you take the longer view, there are good reasons to hope that EU democracy may be evolving in a positive […]

The European Union is increasingly caught between the United States and China. Until it finds a common strategic purpose, the bloc will struggle to advance its interests and is increasingly likely to fall victim to great-power plays. Read my latest column for Project Syndicate. Quoted in the FT Quoted in Belgium’s L’Echo Quoted by Voice […]

I contributed to a symposium published by The International Economy here. “Populist” is often used as a derogatory label for any popular political view that someone deplores. But although populism can take many forms, it has a specific meaning: populists claim to stand up for “the people” (their supporters) against the elites (their opponents, whom […]

Greenhouse-gas emissions in the EU actually rose in 2017 – while they fell in Trump’s United States. Read my column for Brussels Times.

Beware enemies hiding in plain sight. The Audi in the driveway and that BMW creeping around the corner are threats to national security. These days, it’s not the reds under the bed Americans need to worry about—it’s the Mercs on the lurk. Read my latest column for Foreign Policy on Trump’s threatened trade war against […]

Far from prompting other countries to want to leave, the Brexit shambles is boosting support for the EU. Even far-right nationalists have concluded that EU exit is a dead end. But the EU faces a more insidious threat: that it will disintegrate from within, as nationalists first undermine then seek to take over EU institutions, as I […]

Angela Merkel’s announcement of her political departure has prompted a predictable response from many quarters: that she was the “steady hand” that held Europe together, and that her “strong and stabilising leadership” will be sorely missed. Nonsense. Merkel’s 13 years in office have involved domestic drift and European decay. She has complacently coasted along, failing to […]

My latest column for Brussels Times

A big reason why Western politics is in such disarray is voters’ pessimism about the future. 60% of Westerners believe today’s children will be “worse off financially than their parents”. Europeans are particularly gloomy. To paraphrase Hobbes, they expect youngsters’ lives to be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish – and long. When people doubt that progress […]

I debated the future of the EU at the excellent OECD Forum in Paris on 30 May. Fellow panellists included Sandro Gozi, Amelie de Montchalin, Peter Matjasic and Erika Widegren, with Ryan Heath moderating. Check out the webcast here.

Germany’s economy is doing fine right now and it finally has a new government. So it’s perhaps understandable that it seems content to coast along. Why mess with an ostensibly winning formula? Steady-as-she-goes, business-as-usual Merkelism seems successful and safe. Yet Germany is actually far more vulnerable than it seems. Europe’s export powerhouse has long been […]

The EU is not undemocratic, as some critics claim. But nor is it democratic enough. That urgently needs to change. Read my latest article for Brussels Times.

My latest column for Project Syndicate.