Policy Explainers
Policy Explainers break down complex EU policies into clear, structured briefings — making European governance accessible to professionals, academics, and curious readers alike.
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How EU sanctions work: Council unanimity and the EEAS role
The EU adopts sanctions (officially called restrictive measures) to protect its interests (such as when sanctions are adopted to respond to various security threats such as hybrid threats), but also to respond to the malicious positioning of various other international actors. While EU sanctions have been adopted before on a number of topics and against various countries (depending on their thematic, the restrictive measures are categorised in various regimes. As such, for a country, you may have different regimes, such…
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European Council Conclusions of 18-19 June 2026 (explained and annotated)
Ebola Armenia Upholding international law Islands and coastal communities European Semester [A1]European Council Conclusions reflect the various topics of discussion (although sometimes, the text, having been negotiated beforehand, may also be adopted without discussion). They always start with Ukraine, emphasizing the importance that the European Council attributes to the topic. The different parts of the Conclusions do not necessarily reflect the order of discussion at the meeting. [A2]This is standard text related to Ukraine, reiterated in all European Council Conclusions.…
The Brussels Brief 