The refugee crisis: Schengen’s slippery slope. EPC Commentary, 22 September 2015

While the European Union (EU) is facing one of the most divisive crises in its history, the pressure to take immediate action is enormous. Yet, negotiations in the Council have shown that the prospect of a common European response to the manifold effects and underlying reasons of the refugee crisis still belongs to the distant future. Only a few days after Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker delivered his State of the Union address – avowing that Schengen will not be abolished under his term – national decisions to reintroduce temporary border controls are multiplying. Germany, one of the most ardent defenders of a borderless Union, decided to temporarily reinstate border checks. Austria and Slovenia came next. Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands and France might follow.

Scaling Social Impact in Europe: Quantitative Analysis of National and Transnational Scaling Strategies of 358 Social Enterprises

A wide variety of different socially motivated organisations perform exceptional feats in alleviating societal ills using creativity and entrepreneurial spirit in their quest to scale their social impact. Their focus is seldom limited to one specific region – instead they strive to benefit the largest possible number of people, thereby often transcending national borders. After all, societal issues usually don’t stop at a countries’ borders – why then should good ideas and impactful concepts aimed at solving these issues? For many socially motivated organisations, the goal of disseminating their social impact remains a solemn wish due to lacking experience and know-how of how to plan and conduct systematic scaling.