Democracy Impacts

UK Parliament Votes Down EU Withdrawal Deal

January 15, 2019

The UK Parliament voted today to reject a deal struck by Prime Minister Theresa May and EU negotiators on the terms of Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc, in what the BBC reports was “the largest defeat for a sitting government in history.”
EU Rejects Time Limit for Brexit Deal “Backstop”

January 15, 2019

The Guardian reports that, prior to the UK Parliament’s rejection of Prime Minister Theresa May’s negotiated withdrawal deal with the EU, the British government published an exchange in which EU leaders turned down proposals to set a time limit for the deal’s “backstop,” under which the UK could be forced to remain indefinitely within EU structures.
British PM Warns Defeat of EU Deal Could Halt Brexit

January 15, 2019

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has warned euroskeptics that the defeat of the British government’s EU withdrawal deal in the House of Commons, by leaving only a “no deal” Brexit option on the table, could ultimately prompt Members of Parliament to halt the Brexit process.
UK Sees Rise in Support of “No Deal” Brexit

January 15, 2019

An article in The Washington Post explains a rise in support in recent months of the “no deal” Brexit option among UK euroskeptics who prefer the short-term risks of economic disruption to a withdrawal deal proposed by Prime Minister Theresa May, whose suggested “backstop” would arguably keep Britain within EU structures for an indefinite period of time.
UK Ministers Eye Delayed Brexit in Case of Failed Withdrawal Deal

January 15, 2019

The Evening Standard reports that a group of unidentified UK Cabinet Ministers have indicated they would push for the delay of the UK’s exit from the EU in an “emergency crisis situation” following a defeat of the Prime Minister’s EU withdrawal bill in the House of Commons.
Former UK Officials Warn Brexit Deal Threatens Security

January 15, 2019

A group of British security experts, including former head of the British Secret Intelligence Service Sir Richard Dearlove, has called on UK voters to convince their Members of Parliament to vote against the withdrawal deal Prime Minister Theresa May has struck with the EU because it would “place control of aspects of our national security in foreign hands.”
EU Legislators Protest “Harmful” Treatment by US Government

January 15, 2019

NPR reports that members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the US recently sent a letter to members of the US Congress protesting the Trump Administration’s “harmful approach” to US-EU relations after its decision to downgrade the status of the EU’s Mission to the US from a national delegation to an international organization.
Italian, Polish Euroskeptics Discuss Party Alliance for EU Reform

January 11, 2019

Reuters reports that Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has visited the head of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party Jarosław Kaczyński to discuss the formation of a “eurosceptic alliance” to compete in upcoming European Parliament elections in May on a platform of EU reform.
UK Publishes Commitment to Northern Ireland on Brexit “Backstop”

January 10, 2019

The UK government has published a paper expressing its commitment to “ensuring there would be no divergence in practice between the rules” of Northern Ireland and Great Britain in the event the “backstop” agreed between the UK and EU to avoid a “hard border” in Ireland takes effect.
Academic: “Populists” Seek to Reshape EU, Not Destroy It

January 10, 2019

Alexander Clarkson of King’s College London argues that so-called “populist” national leaders in Italy and elsewhere are not in favor of bringing down the EU but rather are interested, once in government, in using the EU system to achieve their domestic policy goals.