Democracy Impacts

EU Officials Reject Johnson’s Demands for New Brexit Deal

July 26, 2019

Bloomberg reports that EU officials, including the European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, have refused to accept demands from new UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to renegotiate the Brexit deal to take out the controversial “Irish backstop” provision.
EU Members Advance Refugee “Solidarity Mechanism”

July 23, 2019

Deutsche Welle reports that 14 EU member states have agreed in principle to a “solidarity mechanism” that would distribute refugees evenly across countries in a “quick” and “automatic” fashion.
French Official Expresses “Ambition” to Form European Army

July 18, 2019

Bloomberg reports that French Defense Minister Florence Parly stated in a recent interview that the government’s “ambition” is to create a European Army that pools national efforts related to military procurement and operations.
EU Council Rolls out Budget Plans in Case of No-Deal Brexit

July 17, 2019

The Council of the EU has adopted a contingency plan for the funding of a 2019 EU budget in case the UK leaves the bloc without a withdrawal deal, supplementing extensive planning by British and EU authorities to blunt the economic and other impacts of a “no-deal Brexit.”
ECJ Develops Standard for State Notifications to Commission

July 17, 2019

The Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has interpreted EU treaties to require the bloc’s member states to provide “sufficiently clear and precise information” describing to European Commission authorities how they are transposing into their national law directives imposed on them by the EU institutions.
MEPs Criticize Process of Selecting New EU Leaders

July 10, 2019

Euractiv reports that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have criticized European Commission and Council leaders for what they deemed to be a non-transparent process through which they chose the next leaders of EU institutions following the recent European parliamentary elections.
UK Party Backs Remaining in EU over Conservative Brexit Deal

July 10, 2019

The Guardian reports that the leadership of the main opposition party in the UK Parliament, the Labour Party, has signaled the party will seek to hold a second referendum to decide on the adoption of a Brexit deal struck by the Conservative Party and that it would campaign to remain in the EU in such a referendum.
Italy Skirts EU Debt Rules by Tightening Budget

July 10, 2019

Politico reports that the Italian government has, for now, escaped sanctions from the European Commission over the country’s high debt and deficit, which breach EU budget rules, by recouping billions of euros from value-added tax payments and lowering social-program expenditures.
EU Party Group Calls for Transnational Election Lists

July 01, 2019

Politico reports that the head of Renew Europe, the EU party group that includes the national party of French President Emmanuel Macron, has called on EU institutions to allow transnational candidate lists in the next European parliamentary elections, a move that would reduce the influence of national parties in EU campaigns.
Central European Leaders Oppose EU Climate Target

June 21, 2019

Reuters reports that leaders from Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary refused to back the inclusion of a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050 in a final statement from an EU summit, citing the potential harm to their economies of a clampdown on fossil fuels.