Democracy Impacts

EU Paper: ECJ Must Enforce Brexit Agreement

July 25, 2017

Bloomberg reports that, in draft Brexit negotiating directives circulated by EU officials in May, EU institutions and national governments demanded that the EU and UK grant the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) a central role in enforcing the provisions of any post-Brexit deal, meaning that the ECJ would retain authority in Britain following its exit from the EU.
Observer Questions Democratic Legitimacy of EU Integration

July 24, 2017

In a recent article, author Andrew Spannaus analyzes the history of attempts by EU and national officials to avoid the results of popular votes rejecting transfers of power to the supranational organization and questions the democratic legitimacy of the bloc's ultimate goal of becoming a "United States of Europe."
Booth: UK Cannot Submit to Post-Brexit ECJ Authority

July 24, 2017

Stephen Booth of the British think tank Open Europe writes that demands contained in the European Commission's Brexit negotiating guidelines, released in early May, for the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) to maintain jurisdiction over EU citizens living in the UK after Brexit "are never going to fly" with the UK Prime Minister.
Committee: Retain UK-EU Energy Relationship

July 21, 2017

The British Parliament's Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy Committee recently called on the UK Government to remain in the EU's Emissions Trading System, which allocates permission to release set amounts of carbon emissions, and warned against a potentially "disastrous" exit from the EU's nuclear regulatory body following its departure from the bloc.
Commission Warns Hungary over NGO Funding Law

July 21, 2017

The European Commission has sent a letter to the Hungarian government warning that the country's new law requiring greater reporting and registration requirements by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive foreign funding violates EU law and must be amended.
UK Lawmakers Call for Free Data Flow Post-Brexit

July 21, 2017

A committee in the House of Lords has called for the UK to retain the free flow of EU citizens’ data after the country departs the EU to facilitate competition by British businesses and security cooperation with European countries, raising questions whether the UK would continue to follow EU Court of Justice rulings under such a post-Brexit data arrangement.
EU May Sanction Poland for Judicial Changes

July 21, 2017

Politico reports that the European Commission is considering plans to sanction the Polish government, in a process that may lead to the country's loss of EU voting rights, in response to proposed Polish judicial reforms that, according to Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans, “greatly amplify the threat to the rule of law.”
Kelly: Trump's Warsaw Speech Reflects a Personalist Nationalism

July 20, 2017

In his recent speech in Warsaw, Poland, President Trump set forth a vision for a Personalist Nationalism, the key features of which Pope John Paul II first articulated.
EU May Struggle to Enforce "Brexit Bill"

July 20, 2017

The Daily Mail reports that, in the run-up to the UK general election in June, the European Commission rejected advice from EU lawyers that enforcement of a so-called "Brexit bill" of 100 billion euros would be "legally impossible" and decided to pursue the payment to plug a substantial hole in the bloc's budget.
German Officials Consider UK Fee for Market Access

July 20, 2017

Reuters reports that, in order to defray the added costs Germany would have to pay to the EU budget following Brexit, German officials have floated the idea of granting the UK access to the EU "single market" in return for a fee after Britain leaves the bloc.