Democracy Impacts

EU Ambassadors Agree Direction of “Solidarity Corps”

July 24, 2018

An article from the Council of the EU describes an agreement among ambassadors for EU member states on funding for and future activities of the European Solidarity Corps and outlines the purposes of the project focused on the political integration of the EU as promoting a “tangible expression of European values.”
UK Legislators Reject EU Customs Backstop

July 18, 2018

The Guardian reports that the UK House of Commons rejected an amendment to Brexit legislation that would have required Britain to remain in a customs union with the EU if the government reached no agreement on free trade with the bloc by 2019.
Paper Outlines UK Plan for “Common Rulebook” with EU

July 12, 2018

The UK Prime Minister’s plan for an economic deal with the EU after Brexit, agreed by her cabinet last week, would create a free trade area and “common rulebook” between the UK and the EU for goods, strike a treaty committing to “ongoing harmonisation with EU rules on goods,” and establish a “joint reference procedure” for UK and EU courts.
Rees-Mogg Explains Benefits of "Outward-Looking" Brexit

July 11, 2018

UK Member of Parliament Jacob Rees-Mogg recently delivered a lecture in which he outlined a robust view of an outward-facing Britain that looks beyond the “narrow European sphere” and is “open to the world” and true to its long constitutional tradition after its departure from the EU.
EU Summit Reaches Limited Deal on Refugee Centers

June 29, 2018

Politico reports that leaders of EU institutions and member states have secured a deal to create voluntary "controlled centers" in the EU to process and house asylum seekers, including aspirational language on limiting the free movement of asylum seekers throughout the EU and setting up migrant centers outside the bloc's borders.
French Official: Eurozone Budget Is Not Negotiable

June 27, 2018

Politico reports that French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, on the eve of an EU summit exploring eurozone reforms, has warned other eurozone governments that, for France, the introduction of a common eurozone budget to spread risk and consolidate financial authority within the bloc is "not negotiable."
UK Officials Eye Extension of Brexit Transition

June 25, 2018

Bloomberg reports that senior officials in the UK are discussing the extension of the planned "transition" period, during which Britain would remain subject to EU customs and other rules and subject to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the EU, beyond December 2020 to permit the country's development of new border measures.
EC Aims to Ramp up DiscoverEU Project

June 25, 2018

AP reports that, in its efforts to promote a transnational, "European" identity and increase support for the political aims of the EU project, the European Commission (EC) is seeking to expand funding for its recently launched DiscoverEU initiative, which funds the travel of young people to explore other EU member states, to 100 million euros.
Times Editorial Warns of Blowback from EU Funding Threats

June 25, 2018

An editorial in The New York Times warns that proposals within the EU institutions to respond to threats to the rule of law in EU member states by cutting their access to development funding would only embolden the leaders of these countries in their criticisms of the liberal, "know-it-all" West.
EC Raises Budget Despite Loss of British Funding

June 08, 2018

Politico reports that, in its recent budget proposal for the years 2021 to 2027, the European Commission (EC) responds to the €13 billion annual gap in its finances left by Brexit by calling for an "ambitious" rise in the bloc's annual spending to meet new priorities and a focus on the internal politics of its members by conditioning development funding on democratic standards.