Democracy Impacts

Official Predicts Advancement of EU Military Efforts

June 29, 2017

Following a recent meeting of EU defense ministers in Malta, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini asserted that defense cooperation, toward the creation of some form of common military structure, "is one of the fields where European Union integration is advancing the most."
German Paper Seeks Vote on Brexit Transition Deal

June 23, 2017

Politico reports that a policy paper from the research service of the German Parliament is calling for the EU to grant a vote to national and regional parliaments in EU member states on any transitional deal on the UK's departure from the EU with complex provisions affecting domestic policy areas.
UK Officials Predict EU Budget Demands

June 20, 2017

The Telegraph reports that UK officials are expecting EU negotiators to demand that Britain pay significant sums of money into the EU budget until the year 2020 - a year following the country's expected departure from the bloc - before Brexit talks can turn to negotiations over the future relationship between the UK and EU.
UK Education Committee Seeks Residency Guarantee

June 19, 2017

A recent report from the UK House of Commons Education Committee calls on the British Government to unilaterally guarantee the residency rights of citizens of other EU countries working in UK higher education and to remove overseas students from migration targets at the start of the country's negotiation of its exit from the EU.
EU Commission Pushes for Eurozone Treasury

June 07, 2017

CNBC reports that the European Commission has announced a set of proposals to hasten the full integration of the eurozone through the establishment of a common treasury for countries that use the euro currency, to be overseen by an EU finance minister, and by bundling national debts into common financial assets.
Malta Proposes EU Tax for Refugee Rejection

June 02, 2017

Reuters reports that the government of Malta recently proposed a new EU policy toward asylum seekers during times of heightened migration to the bloc under which the EU would pay member states 60,000 euros for each refugee they take above a prescribed quota and tax member states 60,000 euros per refugee they fail to take in violation of the quota.
EU Parliament Chief Pushes UK on Citizens' Rights

May 30, 2017

The Guardian reports that European Parliament President Antonio Tajani insisted in a recent meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May that the UK must permit citizens of other EU member states living in the UK the same rights after Brexit, signaling the possibility that the Court of Justice of the EU could maintain jurisdiction over people based in British territory.
London Bankers Seek UK-EU Regulation Monitor

May 26, 2017

The City of London Corporation’s International Regulatory Strategy Group has called for the British government to negotiate a deal on maintaining "equivalence" between EU and UK financial regulations to permit UK banks to retain access to the EU market, including by creating a UK-EU "committee or forum" that monitors regulatory changes.
Initiative Expands EU Governance in Mediterranean

May 25, 2017

The European Commission has launched a new project to promote the UN's comprehensive "sustainable development" agenda in what it calls the "blue economy," or sea-based economic activity, of the Western Mediterranean by providing for "spatial planning" and "habitat conservation" in the region.
MEPs Support Independent Scotland in EU

May 24, 2017

The Scotsman reports that 50 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have signed a letter to the Scottish Parliament supporting the "swift" entry of an independent Scotland into the EU, raising concerns over EU interference in UK domestic politics and sovereignty.