The Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) and the FREE Network wish to extend heartfelt greetings to the brave people of Ukraine on National Independence Day, August 24.

In this brief, Pamela Campa and co-author examine the EU commissions (EC) proposal and highlight its commendable aim of strengthening environmental regulation enforcement at the EU level. However, they also note its limitations in terms of the enforcement tools it encompasses. Their focus is on discussing the potential benefits of utilizing administrative law tools for enforcing environmental regulation, in contrast to the current emphasis on criminal law in the EC's approach.

In this brief, Jonathan Lehne and Maiting Zhuang examines the fragility of democratic institutions in Eastern Europe, comparing expert assessments and general population surveys. Experts' concerns have intensified, yet voters in almost all new EU member states and across age groups express growing satisfaction with their democracies. The study reveals a shift where people's perception of democracy is increasingly influenced by election outcomes rather than actual institutional change, even when media freedom or judicial independence is restricted by governments.

On 11 May, 2023, the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) and the Forum for Research on Eastern Europe: Climate and Environment (FREECE) invited four experts to the 2023 annual Energy Talk to discuss the future of Europe’s Energy infrastructure resilience. This policy brief summarizes the main points from the presentations and discussions.

On 8 June, 2023, the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) and the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) in cooperation with the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) and IVA’s Business Executives Council organized a conference on Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction held at IVA. Read the key takeaways from the conference to learn more!

Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation and Tore Browaldh Foundation recognize the research in unraveling the impact of labor-market, media narratives, and personal traits on climate change perspectives.

On 26 May, 2023, the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) and the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) had the honor of hosting a distinguished keynote speaker, Olga Stefanishyna (Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine) who shared her insights on Ukraine’s progress with reforms on the way to full EU integration.

On Friday 26 May, 2023, the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) and the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) are organizing a high-level discussion with keynote speaker Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.

Several countries, including France, Canada, and Israel, have adopted the Nordic model of prostitution legislation to combat sexual exploitation. However, researchers from SITE highlight that these reforms might unintentionally increase sex tourism, necessitating comprehensive policy considerations.

In this policy brief, researchers from SITE explores the challenges of quantifying political discourse using 30 years of party manifestos. It analyzes the evolution of dominant topics in European politics, particularly in transition countries. The brief utilizes data from the Manifesto Project to describe the development of political discourse in Europe, emphasizing differences between Western European countries and Eastern European transition economies.