Democracy Impacts

Denmark Plans Referendum to End EU Defense Opt-outs

August 07, 2015

Reuters reports that the Danish Government is planning to hold a referendum to decide whether to end the country's current opt-outs from the EU's Common Security and Defense Policy, which would permit the country to engage within the EU framework on joint military operations and developing new military capabilities.
Juncker Threatens Mandatory EU Resettlement Policy

August 06, 2015

Calling on politicians to ignore "populist" responses to the resettlement of waves of migrants within the EU, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned that if the EU's voluntary resettlement plan failed to find a place for its target of 40,000 migrants, the Commission would bring back a policy of mandatory resettlement later this year.
Bandow: Greek Crisis Exposes EU Failings

August 06, 2015

Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute writes that the Greek financial crisis and subsequent additional bailout of the country may result in the unraveling of the "European Project," as Europeans realize that EU centralization comes at the expense of their popular sovereignty.
Paper: German Minister Seeks Brussels Power Shift

July 31, 2015

Citing anonymous Brussels diplomats, the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has reported that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble wishes to take some powers from the European Commission, such as competition and internal market oversight, and hand them to independent authorities.
Scott: Supremacy of EU Law Is Threat to British Sovereignty

July 29, 2015

Barrister Matthew Scott writes that the supremacy of EU law is a greater threat to British sovereignty than the influence of the European Court of Human Rights, as UK courts are finding ways to expand their powers under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights at the expense of the country's Parliament.
Oxley: Obama's "Brexit" Warning Is Not in UK Interests

July 27, 2015

Robert Oxley of the group Business for Britain writes that US President Barack Obama's most recent call for the UK to remain in the EU is based on the US's hostile treatment in Europe and argues that the President should instead be calling for real EU reform.
US President Pushes UK to Remain in EU

July 24, 2015

US President Barack Obama has repeated his calls for the UK to remain within the EU, arguing that Britain is a more valuable partner to the US within the bloc.
EU Official Laments Voluntary Migrant Resettlement Plan

July 21, 2015

EUobserver reports that the European Commissioner for migration issues Dimitris Avramopoulos has expressed his disappointment with a voluntary resettlement scheme for tens of thousands of migrants from Africa and the Middle East, which this week failed to meet the Commission's 40,000-migrant target for resettlement due to objections from EU member countries.
French President Proposes Eurozone Government

July 21, 2015

Arguing that the lack of strong supranational institutions is a threat to Europe, French President François Hollande has called for the 19 countries in the eurozone to be bound by a central government, including a common budget and parliament.
Erlanger: Euro May "Shatter" EU Project

July 17, 2015

Steven Erlanger of The New York Times writes that the Greek financial crisis has highlighted how the introduction of the euro, rather than hastening "ever closer union," could potentially pull the EU apart.