Democracy Impacts

EU Council Outlines Roadmap Toward Military Cooperation

April 13, 2018

In March, the Council of the EU adopted an implementation roadmap for the EU's Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) agreement, a deal among 25 EU member states through which they will implement military cooperation as one of the initial steps toward the EU's planned Defence Union.
Barnier: UK Must Not "Regress" from EU Standards

April 11, 2018

The European Commission's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has called for the inclusion in any post-Brexit UK-EU deal of a "non-regression" clause that would require the UK to permanently maintain EU standards in areas such as the environment, tax, and employment.
EC Presents Action Plan on Military Mobility

April 03, 2018

As part of the body's bid to form a "Defence Union" by the year 2025, the European Commission (EC) has presented an action plan to coordinate with EU member states to improve military mobility with an aim "to tackle physical, procedural or regulatory barriers which hamper" movement by defense forces throughout the EU.
Lawmaker: UK Must Prepare for "No Deal" Brexit

March 30, 2018

UK Member of Parliament David Jones writes that, after European negotiators presented a draft withdrawal plan including the EU's "annexation" of Northern Ireland as part of a common regulatory area, Britain should no longer assume Brexit talks will come to a satisfactory deal and must begin spending money to prepare for a "no deal" scenario.
Swiss Officials Seek Broad Treaty with EU

March 29, 2018

Reuters reports that the Swiss government has announced the outlines of a new treaty it desires to strike with the EU that would include a closer bond between EU and Swiss markets and arbitration panels to resolve disputes between the jurisdictions.
MP Criticizes EU Proposal to "Dismember" Britain

March 29, 2018

The Guardian reports that British Member of Parliament and head of the euroskeptic European Research Group Jacob Rees-Mogg has argued that the EU is risking a Brexit without any withdrawal agreement with its "egregious" proposal that Northern Ireland, a country in the UK, remain part of a common regulatory area with the EU after the rest of Britain leaves the bloc.
EU Committee Rejects British Proposal on Migration

March 28, 2018

The Guardian reports that members of the European Parliament's Brexit steering group recently rejected a British concession on allowing migrants from the EU arriving after the date of Brexit to apply for long-term residence in the UK, rejecting restrictions on the rights of family reunification and on review by the Court of Justice of the EU contained in the proposal.
Rutte Dismisses Federalized Future for Post-Brexit EU

March 27, 2018

Offering his vision for how the EU should move forward without the UK after Brexit, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte asserted that the supranational bloc is not "an unstoppable train speeding towards federalism" and called for the EU budget to shrink due to the departure of one of its main contributors.
Hungarian Official Blames Brexit on EU Institutions

March 26, 2018

Politico reports that, during a visit with UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó referred to Brexit as "Brussels' failure" and warned that the UK's vote to leave the bloc would cause a "huge problem" from the perspective of EU institutions.
May Rejects EU Regulatory Control over Northern Ireland

March 26, 2018

The Independent reports that UK Prime Minister Theresa May has rejected an EU proposal for Northern Ireland to remain aligned with the EU customs union as part of a "common regulatory area" to avoid a "hard" border between the UK country and the Republic of Ireland.