EU: old and new challenges
The new year brings familiar challenges for the EU. Turkey's accession process to the European Union is still in a deadlock, and the two have to deal with the contradictions of a relationship based on mutual interdependence and political distrust. EU's internal cohesion is also in danger, with an increasing number of countries - Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Austria - questioning the EU's principles and values. The main challenge for the 27 will be, again, to speak with a single voice.