Democracy Impacts

Hannan: Democracy Is Preferable to EU "Technocracy"

January 04, 2017

UK Member of the European Parliament Daniel Hannan writes that calls in the UK to strip voters of the results of their June 2016 decision to leave the EU violates the principle that democracy is the best way through which government can settle competing interests.
Swiss Parliament Declines to Cap EU Migration

January 03, 2017

Politico reports that the Swiss parliament has complied with the European Commission's "red line" on the principle of free movement, despite a 2014 referendum in which Swiss voters called for migration restrictions, by adopting legislation that creates labor market restrictions for EU workers but does not cap migration from the bloc.
UK Official Warns of Overbroad EU Transition Deal

January 03, 2017

Reuters reports that UK Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox has stated that, while a transitional agreement between Britain and the EU following the official "Brexit" deadline may be necessary, such a deal must recognize the decision of voters to remove the UK from EU control.
French Disenchantment Signals Trouble for EU

January 02, 2017

The New York Times reports that the disenchantment of French voters with the consolidation of EU power and with the bloc's migrant resettlement policies, and the corresponding expansion of support for the National Front political party, could spell trouble for the future of the EU following the country's presidential election later this year.
EU Official Seeks £50 Billion Brexit Bill

January 02, 2017

The Telegraph reports that the European Commission's chief negotiator for a post-Brexit deal with the UK, Michel Barnier, has proposed to colleagues that the EU bill the UK £50 billion for pensions, loan guarantees, and UK-based project spending once the country's Prime Minister triggers negotiations to leave the bloc.
Commission Plans Uniform EU Child Benefits Rules

December 30, 2016

Politico reports that, as part of the European Commission's plans to legislate the extent to which national governments may restrict welfare and unemployment benefits for migrants from other EU countries, the body will seek to centralize policies on child subsidies across the bloc by introducing an EU policy on the “coordination of family benefits."
EU Leaders Oppose Plan for UK "Associate Citizenship"

December 20, 2016

The Guardian reports that EU leaders and national governments are voicing skepticism regarding a pledge from Belgian Member of the European Parliament Guy Verhofstadt to put on the table during Brexit negotiations the possibility of "associate citizenship" in the EU for UK citizens, with some suggesting that the pledge threatens Verhofstadt's credibility.
UK Lords Committees Call for Transitional EU Deal

December 20, 2016

Two UK House of Lords Committees on the EU have published a report calling on Prime Minister Theresa May to strike a transitional trade deal with other EU member states that would extend the period during which the bloc's rules and judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU would apply to British businesses past the date on which Brexit occurs.
Lawyer Seeks ECJ Ruling on Brexit Questions

December 19, 2016

The BBC reports that a lawyer is seeking to launch a lawsuit in Irish courts aimed at obtaining a ruling from the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) on whether the UK has already triggered the two-year process of leaving the EU and whether the British Parliament can reject any Brexit deal agreed between the EU and the UK Government.
Campaigners Plan UK Suit over "Single Market" Exit

December 19, 2016

Reuters reports that a group of campaigners has announced plans to sue the British Government to deter it from leaving the European Economic Area (EEA), which contains the EU's so-called "single market," as part of its Brexit plans, arguing that the notification required to depart the EEA is separate from that required to leave the EU.