Democracy Impacts

Cameron Sets out EU Renegotiation Goals

November 11, 2015

In a speech and letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, UK Prime Minister David Cameron called for reforms in the British relationship with the EU, including measures that would prevent eurozone countries from discriminating against the UK, immigration reform, and an end to "ever closer union."
British MP: Renegotiation Provides Opportunity for EU Reform

November 04, 2015

UK Member of Parliament ("MP") Andrew Tyrie writes that Britain's renegotiation of competences with the EU provides the Brussels institutions and EU member states the opportunity to implement reforms ensuring that a powerful voice on behalf of national governments counters the unsustainable drive toward "ever-closer union."
Iceland PM: Decision to Avoid EU Was Correct

November 04, 2015

POLITICO reports that based on his country's ability to maintain its currency, its authority over economic and financial policy, and its control over natural resources, Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson has stated that Iceland "dodged a bullet" by declining to join the European Union.
Cameron Warns of Unfavorable "Brexit" Scenarios

November 04, 2015

The Telegraph reports that UK Prime Minister David Cameron is warning of a scenario in which the British people vote to leave the EU, and surrender voting privileges in the bloc, but fail to complete a deal in which the UK relieves itself from responsibilities under EU legislation.
Professor Calls for Common EU Migration Policy

November 04, 2015

Professor Thomas Straubhaar of the University of Hamburg has called for the authority to determine migration and refugee policy to be taken from the EU member countries and placed in EU institutions, in order to permit these institutions to form a common migration policy applicable across the bloc.
Swidlicki: Polish Election Sets Back EU Integration

October 30, 2015

Pawel Swidlicki of the think tank Open Europe writes that the victory of the somewhat euroskeptic Law and Justice Party in Poland could serve to signal the end of "ever-closer" integration within the EU and could help advance UK Prime Minister David Cameron's negotiations over the competences of the bloc.
Officials Seek to Circumvent EU Parliament on "Brexit"

October 29, 2015

POLITICO reports that UK and European Commission officials are looking for ways to "sideline" the European Parliament on issues, especially related to immigration, involved in negotiations between the UK and the EU in their negotiations to prevent an exit of Britain from the bloc.
Johnson: Reclaim Supremacy of UK Parliament

October 28, 2015

UK Member of Parliament Boris Johnson writes that the UK should re-establish the sovereignty of the British Parliament by amending the legislation it passed to join the EU to make clear that EU laws only control when Parliament has not "expressly and subsequently decided otherwise."
Hannan Proposes Acceptable Terms for UK-EU Renegotiation

October 27, 2015

UK Member of the European Parliament ("MEP") Dan Hannan has set out a list of proposed terms he argues Prime Minister David Cameron should send to EU leaders prior to the renegotiation of Britain's relationship with the bloc, including the re-establishment of sovereignty of the UK Parliament and the limitation of the influence of European judges.
President Sees ECJ as "Engine of European Integration"

October 27, 2015

In a recent interview, the newly elected President of the Court of Justice of the EU ("ECJ") Koen Lenaerts stated that the ECJ has been "the engine of European integration" for the last half century, since the Court established rules of "primacy" of EU law over national law.