Democracy Impacts

MPs Seek Prevention of Pre-Brexit Migration Surge

July 28, 2016

Warning of a surge in migration from the EU to the UK as Brexit approaches, members of the British Parliament's Home Affairs Committee have urged the government to identify a "cut-off date" after which EU migrants to the country will no longer be permitted to remain.
UK Secretary Seeks EU Free Trade Deal

July 27, 2016

Politico reports that UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is seeking to secure a free trade deal with the EU, rather than an agreement to enter a customs union with the bloc, by the time of Britain's next general election in 2020.
TUC Demands Post-Brexit Preservation of Workers' Rights

July 26, 2016

The Trades Union Congress has called on the British Government to maintain the same level of workers' rights in the UK following the country's exit from the EU and is seeking a "central role" in Brexit negotiations.
S&P Labels EU Structure "Unsustainable"

July 26, 2016

City A.M. reports that the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has issued a report declaring the EU's "pooling" of national sovereignty "unsustainable in its current form" and calling either for deeper integration in the EU or a looser confederation of nation states.
UK Councillor Seeks Stronger Post-Brexit EU Institutions

July 26, 2016

Richard Lewis of the Scottish National Party writes that the UK's exit permits an opportunity for the EU to deepen integration and provide for stronger institutions, including a directly elected EU President and Members of the European Parliament who can launch their own legislation.
Scholars Seek Quick Brexit, Transition Period

July 25, 2016

Damian Chalmers of the National University of Singapore and London School of Economics and Anand Menon of Kings College London write that the UK should negotiate a quick exit from the EU in the year 2018, restoring parliamentary sovereignty and cutting off free movement, followed by a transition period in which Britain and the EU work out details of their future relationship.
UK Attorney Outlines Vision for Post-Brexit Trade

July 25, 2016

British think tank Politeia has published a pamphlet from senior attorney Martin Howe QC outlining how the UK should legally fulfill the vote of its people to depart the EU and describing how it can form new free trade agreements with the bloc and other countries around the world.
British MPs Object to EU "Emergency Brake" Deal

July 25, 2016

The Daily Mail reports that euroskeptic Members of the UK Parliament have warned that they will not support a proposed deal with the EU that would permit Britain to retain access to the bloc's single market in exchange for a restricted version of free movement with other EU countries and UK contributions to the EU budget.
V4 Seeks Greater National Control of EU Policy

July 25, 2016

EUobserver reports that, at a summit of the Visegrad Group of Central European countries that focused on driving a power shift from the European Commission to national governments in the EU Council, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo criticized the Commission for overriding the objections of governments to the EU's directive on posted workers.
EU Seeks Tough Emissions Restrictions on Members

July 22, 2016

Politico reports that the European Commission's proposed Effort Sharing Regulation, which seeks to meet its greenhouse gas emissions pledges under the recent UN climate deal, is facing blowback from governments on which the regulation imposes the toughest emissions restrictions.