Beyond the recurring ambiguity between Soft and Hard Power, Cultural Diplomacy is used in a big range of diplomatic activities, not only because it is effective in normal international relations, but it is particularly suitable in situations of high tension between Heads of State, where any other diplomatic tool has failed, Prof. Federica Olivares says in an interview to Europost. 

The Europeans have a very large defence budget - about €180bn to €190bn a year, which is the second largest collective military budget in the world, but much of the money is wasted because you have for example five different fighter aircraft, four different main battle tanks. You have a helicopter which is produced in 26 different versions, says Dr Jamie Shea, Senior Fellow at Friends of Europe and former NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, in an interview to Europost.

I do not think we would be ever able to say we are safe. There are still a lot of breaches, still a lot of vulnerabilities, and at the same time the world is getting more and more digital. For example, there are new things floating into the world, as the Internet of Things or the Internet of Toys, and they are in even worse state, when it comes to security, than websites, says Mary-Jo De Leeuw, award-winning cybersecurity expert and co-founder of the Women in Cyber Security Foundation, in an interview to Europost.

We have been warning from the very start that Mobility Package 1 runs counter to the basic European values and the concept of the Single Market. In no way does the proposed approach to the issue resolution help in boosting the Single Market, on the contrary - it only undermines it. More than that, the EU is not getting any stronger when the states of the EU periphery are pitted against those of the centre, says Ilhan Kyuchyuk, MEP from MRF, Vice President of ALDE, in an interview to Europost.

Despite popular misconceptions, the European Council, which is composed of the national heads of state or government, and the Council of Ministers, which is composed of national ministers, remain the most important institutions in the EU. Corporate interests find different ways to influence the legislative process in the bloc, and not all of these channels go through the Commission. Lobbyists also fulfil vital functions in a democracy by providing information to MEPs and policy makers about the likely effects of policies, says Dimitar Toshkov, social scientist, in an interview to Europost.

Citizens are quite aware of the strengths and weaknesses of populist parties. They are good communicators. On the other hand, they are unable to provide sustainable solutions. At the same time, there is a concern that, unfortunately, traditional and mainstream parties cannot provide those sustainable solutions either, unless they start innovating. This has been identified as a shortcoming of the traditional and mainstream parties and an area which is in need of bigger improvement, says Assya Kavrakova, Executive Director of the European Citizens Action Service (ECAS), in an interview with Europost.

In some cases, there is divergence in 90% of the ingredients, which is unacceptable and will soon become illegal. The companies will be obligated to provide clear information about every single product, so that consumers can make a well-informed purchase decision, says Emil Radev in an interview to Europost.

Political and economic factors interact. From a purely economic point of view it is difficult to understand and manage things like Brexit or the migration crisis. Populist policies are economically harmful, yet they sometimes receive political support, says Prof. Clemens Fuest, President of the Munich-based ifo Institute for Economic Research, in an interview with Europost.

What is transpiring with the Mobility Package is unprecedented in the history of the EP - never have MEPs been so strongly and irreversibly divided. I do not believe that it is possible for the MEPs on the Transport Committee to go over all the amendments and synthesize them in a way that they can be voted in such a short time. At stake is the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people, so it would be criminal to approach the issue from a purely bureaucratic standpoint and with haste, says Andrey Novakov, Bulgarian MEP from EPP/GERB, in an interview with Europost.

In the coming elections, people should choose between two different political agendas. The one endorsed by the left-wing and progressive forces calls for a different financial and political model that would put the interests of the people first. The other one entails the very same policies that have caused all issues above, endorsed by the conservative, populist and far-right political forces, i.e. the ones that have failed to deliver a better future for the people, says Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Vice-President of the European Parliament and Head of the SYRIZA Party Delegation, in an interview with Europost.