Democracy Impacts

EU Approves Joint Military Funding, Command Center

August 04, 2017

The Economic Times reports that, a day after the European Commission offered a 1.5 billion euro budget for greater EU defense cooperation proposed by France and Germany, EU member states agreed to establish a military command center in Brussels that will oversee training missions in African countries.
Pro-Life Campaign Challenges EU Inaction on Initiative

August 03, 2017

C-Fam reports that the campaign "One of Us" is challenging in the Court of Justice of the EU the European Commission's inaction on the group's successful European Citizens' Initiative seeking respect under EU policy for the principle that life begins at conception and a halt to funding for research that destroys embryos.
Commission Seeks Hundreds of Millions to Support EU "Solidarity"

August 03, 2017

In May, the European Commission proposed a budget of just over €340 million for its European Solidarity Corps, an institution aimed at instilling support for EU values and integration in young people across the bloc, and called for 100,000 placements in the program by the year 2020.
Former EU Judge Warns of Impacts of Messy EU-UK Divorce

August 03, 2017

The Daily Mail reports that former Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) Judge Franklin Dehousse has warned that the EU's "divorce bill" demands of Britain in negotiations over Brexit could risk the important relationship between the two partners and that negotiators should avoid resorting to the ECJ to resolve legal issues due to the institution's "very heavy procedures and very high costs."
EU Body Orders Countries to Cut Port Tax Breaks

August 03, 2017

The European Commission has demanded that the governments of France and Belgium stop granting reduced corporate tax rates to their ports, arguing that such policies violate EU rules prohibiting certain state aid to industry.
UK Lawmakers Plot Effort to Stay in EEA

August 03, 2017

The Guardian reports that a cross-party group in the UK Parliament is considering plans to trigger a vote to keep the UK in the European Economic Area (EEA), a bloc that largely must abide by EU regulations and border rules, during at least a transition period following Brexit.
UK’s May Promises End to Free Movement by 2019

August 02, 2017

Politico reports that, amid mixed messages from her cabinet in recent weeks, UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s official spokesperson stated that "free movement" of EU citizens to Britain will end in March 2019, once the country officially exits the EU.
UK Considers New Court for Post-Brexit EU Citizen Cases

August 02, 2017

Bloomberg reports that UK officials participating in Brexit negotiations are considering the proposal of a new, independent court to adjudicate cases involving the rights of EU citizens in the UK after Britain leaves the bloc, as an alternative to the EU’s proposal of maintaining its Court of Justice's jurisdiction over such citizens.
Dutch Senate Backs Deal Rejected in 2016 Vote

August 02, 2017

Politico reports that, despite the rejection of the deal by voters in the Netherlands in a referendum held last year, the Dutch Senate supported in May the adoption of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which bolsters trade ties between the supranational bloc and the Eastern European country.
EU Officials Signal Focus on Defense Union

August 02, 2017

Signaling that it will maintain its push to consolidate policy-making on defense cooperation in EU institutions, in May, the European Commission held an "orientation debate" on the future of European defense, where EU officials called for greater strides toward the funding of and collaboration on a European "Security and Defence Union."