In the parliamentary election in September 2021, the cabinet coalition of the Left-Green Movement, the Independence Party and the Progressive Party, which has been in office since 2017, won a renewed mandate and remained in office, reshuffling some ministries among the...

The period under review covers the first two years in office of the second António Costa government. The period was inevitably overshadowed by the pandemic. However, it also saw the eventual demise of the Costa government in December 2021.

Belgium is a country of 31,000 km² located at the heart of northwestern Europe. It is densely populated (11.6 million inhabitants) and very open to the rest of the world. This is a strong asset that the country normally exploits very well, but which turned into a weakness...

In 2019, the Irish economy again performed impressively on key macroeconomic indicators. GDP growth was close to 5% and GNP growth was over 4%. Unemployment fell to 5%, a remarkable achievement given that it had been as high as 16% in 2012. Inflation remained at a very low...

In 2020–2021, the Romanian government’s ability to effectively govern and advance meaningful legislation was hindered by political instability and a rotating door of different coalitions. In February 2020, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) initiated a no-confidence vote...

Israel has experienced a year full of positive and negative developments. 2021 was characterized by the last of four elections in two years; confrontation with Gaza; the fragility of the education system, with teaching split between in person instruction and online learning;...

The murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová in February 2018 continued to impact political developments in 2020 and 2021. The investigations and the trials that eventually started in 2020 revealed the unimaginable size of the corrupt...

In terms of sustainable governance, Canada’s performance is, overall, very good. The country’s public policies are generally strong and sustainable. On the economic policy front, the pandemic brought the most severe and rapid economic decline since the Great Depression. An...

After 2008, Italy experienced one of its most serious economic crises, with negative effects on industrial performance, employment and government budgets. National and international confidence in the economy and in the ability of the Italian state to face big external shocks...

From March 2020 to the end of the review period in January 2022, Slovenia was governed by a minority coalition government led by Prime Minister Janez Janša, president of the center-right Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS). The other political parties of the governing coalition...