Democracy Impacts

MEP: UK Has Lost Right to EU Opt-outs

August 07, 2017

The Guardian reports that Belgian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Guy Verhofstadt, who is coordinator for the body on Brexit, has asserted that, by triggering its exit from the EU, Britain has lost its ability to return to the body in the future on the same membership terms, including with "perks" such as budget rebates and opt-outs from justice and security policy areas.
EU Criticizes Central Europe on Asylum Policies

August 07, 2017

In June, the European Commission presented four progress reports on measures related to the European Agenda on Migration in which it criticized EU member states Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic for not complying with their "legal obligation" to take in asylum seekers and called for more action toward an effective European Border and Coast Guard.
EU Parliament Increasingly Judges Domestic Policies

August 07, 2017

Politico reports on the increased frequency of European Parliament debates on the domestic policies of EU member states and their impacts on the rule of law and human rights, leading some members of the body to express concern that it is sitting in judgment as a "politically motivated 'supreme court.'"
UK PM Confirms Steady Course on Brexit

August 04, 2017

Reuters reports that, despite her governing party's loss of seats in the June general election, UK Prime Minister Theresa May has asserted that her strategy toward negotiating Britain's exit from the EU, including leaving the European Economic Area and the EU customs union, has not changed.
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.