Democracy Impacts

UK Seeks Increased Sovereignty within EU Structure

February 19, 2016

The BBC reports that the British Government is considering proposals to perform the balancing act of regaining UK sovereignty while remaining in the EU, including by increasing the authority of the UK judiciary to resist what the courts deem to be overreaching decisions of the Court of Justice of the EU.
Draft Document Shows UK Renegotiation Limitations

February 17, 2016

The Telegraph reports that a leaked EU document containing the draft terms of the UK's renegotiation of competences with the bloc shows "no progress" toward British Prime Minister David Cameron's calls for such terms as a guarantee against "ever closer union" and recognition that not all countries will join the euro.
UK Councillors Call on Cameron to Campaign for Brexit

February 17, 2016

Arguing that the terms of his attempted renegotiation with the EU have not matched his pledges to voters in the last election, UK Conservative Party councillors have called on Prime Minister David Cameron to campaign for the UK to exit the bloc.
Grieve: Legislation Asserting UK Sovereignty Could "Be Pointless"

February 12, 2016

Former UK Attorney General Dominic Grieve has argued that plans to reassert UK sovereignty through legislation, insofar as it conflicted with the supremacy of EU law, would "be pointless" and instead encouraged more dialogue on UK legislation between the British courts and the Court of Justice of the EU.
"Core" EU National Ministers Recommit to Integration

February 12, 2016

Meeting in Rome, the foreign ministers of the six founding countries of the EU discussed setting up an informal group of "core" states committed to driving forward integration and devoted to "ever closer union" within the bloc.
O'Sullivan: Opponents of "Brexit" Ignore EU Failings

February 10, 2016

John O'Sullivan writes in National Review that British opponents of leaving the EU ignore or seek to play down the numerous crises facing the bloc and instead emphasize messages of fear and British weakness in making their case to remain in the EU superstructure.
EU Leaders Indicate Push-back Against "Emergency Brake"

February 10, 2016

The Guardian reports that, as some politicians in Austria and Switzerland support the creation and immediate use of an "emergency brake" to cut off social benefits to recent migrants from EU countries, as proposed by the UK, leaders of EU institutions may resist the change in order to prevent an "open season" for migration reform calls within the bloc.
Former ECJ Official: UK Cannot Override EU Law

February 10, 2016

Casting doubt on proposals to reassert the supremacy of the British Parliament over EU legislation, former Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU ("ECJ") Sir Francis Jacobs has said that the only way to prevent EU law from overriding national laws would be to leave the EU.
Howe: Only Brexit Will "Save" UK Sovereignty

February 10, 2016

Martin Howe QC writes that proposals for laws seeking to enhance the sovereignty of the British Parliament ignore the fact that the Parliament already possesses such sovereignty and that the only real way to "disapply" EU legislation in the UK without triggering an escalating conflict would be to vote to leave the EU and negotiate a new trade relationship with the bloc.
Expert Doubts Impact of "Brake" on EU Migration

February 09, 2016

Director of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research Jonathan Portes argues that the proposed "emergency brake" on in-work benefits for migrants to the UK from other EU countries would likely be of little impact in deterring migrants from entering Britain.