'eu institutions' - tagged features

Austria hands over the Presidency of the European Union to Finland on Saturday 1st July. Over the past 6 months, Austria had the job of finalising details of the EU's post 2007 budget, as well as moving the Lisbon strategy forward. This initiative aims to increase Europe's competitiveness and to create more jobs. But an unexpected challenge came Austria's way when Russian energy supplies were suddenly threatened in the depths of the very cold last European winter. Kerry Skyring reports on the highs and lows of the Austrian EU Presidency. 

Finland is about to begin its second EU presidency, the first was back in 1999. Since that time the union has grown, and the challenges facing it today have changed. RFI's Hannah Godfrey asks Finland based journalist Cheryl Riggins about Finnish priorities for their presidency. 

There is undoubtedly a big communication deficit between Brussels and European citizens. For many, the EU remains something distant and quite abstract. Cordula Janowski, from the Center for European Integration Studies in Bonn, agrees that EU leaders and institutions have lost touch with the concerns of its citizens.