Democracy Impacts

Czech Republic Sues EU over Gun Directive

August 17, 2017

Reuters reports that the government of the Czech Republic has sued the EU over a recent directive banning some types of semi-automatic firearms and requiring increased registration of other weapons, arguing that such a policy would unnecessarily target hunters and drive many guns to the black market.
UK Official: EU Plans to Limit UK Residency Rights

August 17, 2017

Reuters reports that, according to a letter from UK Brexit Secreetary David Davis, the EU’s current offer to the UK in Brexit negotiations stipulates that Britons living in Europe would retain residency rights only in their current country of residence after Brexit and would not have the right to move to another EU country.
UK’s Brexit Bill Could Remove Right to Sue Government

August 17, 2017

The Independent reports that the UK Parliament’s latest draft of a bill that would cause the country to leave the EU includes a provision that would take away the right for British citizens to sue the UK government for damages resulting from government activity, a method of redress currently allowed under EU case law.
UK Sets out Options on EU Customs Deal

August 15, 2017

UK Brexit Secretary David Davis writes that a new position paper released by the British Government sets out two options for "ambitious new customs arrangements with the EU" after Brexit, the first creating a "highly streamlined" customs border between the UK and EU and the second forming a new customs union with the bloc.
UK Judge: Government Must Clarify Future Role of ECJ Rulings

August 15, 2017

The Guardian reports that President of the UK Supreme Court Lord Neuberger has called on the UK Parliament to clarify by statute whether UK judges should take rulings by the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) into account after Brexit.
Opinion: Macron’s “Democratic Convention” Plan Could Backfire

August 15, 2017

Richard Youngs of Carnegie Europe argues that French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal for member states to hold national “democratic conventions” on EU reform could backfire if the EU and its member states fail to adopt the resulting recommendations.
UK Officials Signal Exit from EU Structures in 2019

August 14, 2017

The Guardian reports that UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Chancellor Philip Hammond have announced that Britain will depart the EU's "single market" and customs union in 2019, even if Brexit negotiations lead to a limited transition period at that time in UK-EU relations, as leaving these EU structures will permit the UK to strike trade deals with non-EU countries.
EU Faces Pressure to Build "Military Schengen"

August 14, 2017

Politico reports that officials of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are supporting calls from Dutch Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert to establish a "military Schengen" area in Europe permitting the free movement of foreign and multinational military forces across borders in peacetime.
MEP Calls for Direct EU Taxation After Brexit

August 11, 2017

The Daily Express reports that Belgian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and head of the Brexit coordination team for the body, Guy Verhofstadt, has called for the EU to use Brexit as an opportunity to impose direct taxes on individuals and companies in order to form a "direct link" between the supranational bloc and citizens of European countries.
NGOs Call for EU Action on Poland Asylum Policy

August 11, 2017

A group of nongovernmental organizations has called on the European Commission to "hold Poland accountable" for the actions of Polish border guards denying entry by asylum seekers from neighboring Belarus.