Democracy Impacts

Persson: Lesson of Barroso's Presidencies Is Decentralization

November 05, 2014

Mats Persson of the think tank Open Europe writes that former European Commission President José Manuel Barroso's legacy is a divided Europe and that the lesson of his administration is therefore that "Europe cannot be constructed from Brussels."
U.K. Liberal Democrats Block EU Referendum Legislation

October 29, 2014

The Telegraph reports that U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has dropped legislation setting up a referendum on EU membership in 2017 in response to demands from Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg that Cameron drop a tax on "spare rooms" in exchange for support of the referendum.
Traditional Parties Feel Squeeze from Euroskeptic Movements

October 22, 2014

An editorial in The Economist explains the challenges that European populist parties, which come both from the left and right and generally oppose the EU, pose to "traditional" parties of the political center.
Observers Criticize New EU Role as "Tax Police"

October 22, 2014

An article in The Wall Street Journal describes concerns from European businesses over the European Commission's investigation of tax deals between EU member states and companies, thus potentially taking new territory from national governments and creating legal uncertainties for businesses.
EU Calls for Draft Budgets from Member States

October 22, 2014

Based on EU legislation passed in the wake of the recent financial crisis, the European Commission called on EU member countries to submit their draft budgets last week in order for the Commission to request revisions by the end of October.
EU Referendum Bill Clears Hurdle in U.K. House of Commons

October 22, 2014

Buoyed by calls from British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond for substantial reforms of the EU, which he said has transformed into a "putative superstate," the bill to hold a referendum on EU membership passed its second reading in the British House of Commons.
U.K. Commentators Debate Life Outside EU

October 17, 2014

An article in The Guardian contains competing perspectives on the consequences for the U.K. Government and economy of a British departure from the EU.
UKIP Calls for 2015 EU Referendum

October 17, 2014

In a recent interview, leader of the anti-EU U.K. Independence Party ("UKIP") Nigel Farage says he will use UKIP influence in the British Parliament following next year's elections to move forward a referendum on U.K. membership in the EU to 2015.
EU Adopts New Regulations on Political Parties

October 08, 2014

The European Council has adopted new legislation on European political parties, setting up an independent body in the European Parliament that evaluates whether such parties, among other things, respect the values upon which the European Union was founded in granting and withdrawing legal status.
Cameron Raises Possibility of Leaving EU

October 01, 2014

The Telegraph reports that in an interview at the beginning of the Conservative Party Conference, British Prime Minister David Cameron stated that he would not campaign for the U.K. to remain in the EU in a proposed referendum in 2017 if, at that time, he finds it is not in the interest of the country to do so.