The Problem

Across Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan, and Libya, the EU’s response to active conflicts is increasingly inconsistent, and increasingly visible. Diverging member-state positions, post-ceasefire arrangements that risk legitimizing mass violence, and a pattern of treating humanitarian aid as a substitute for political accountability are eroding Europe’s credibility as a principled global actor. Where the EU invokes international law in one theatre, it too often shields partners from it in another.

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Our Approach

BIC develops policy options that help the EU respond to active conflicts with greater coherence, principle, and impact. Through comparative research, expert convenings, and sustained engagement with policymakers and civil society, including Palestinian, Sudanese, and Libyan voices too often marginal in Brussels debates, we connect rigorous analysis of Europe’s foreign-policy toolkit (the European Peace Facility, sanctions, conditional aid, frozen-asset mechanisms) to the public mobilization that gives those tools political force.

Key Objectives

- Apply EU aid, trade, and accountability instruments consistently across theatres, tied to compliance with international humanitarian law.

- Identify mechanisms to leverage frozen funds for victim support and reconstruction in Ukraine and Gaza.

- Challenge post-ceasefire arrangements that sideline accountability, Palestinian political rights, and the demand for justice.

- Rethink European engagement in fragmented contexts such as Sudan and Libya beyond a stability-at-any-cost approach.

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