Democracy Impacts

Germany: EU Unity Is "Priority" in Brexit Talks

March 21, 2017

Bloomberg reports that talking points distributed by the German government to ministry staff indicate the country's “foremost priority” in Brexit talks will be maintaining the unity of the remaining 27 EU member states and asserts that the UK must receive a trade deal with worse terms than those of membership in the bloc.
Official: UK Should Reject EU Budget Demands

March 21, 2017

In a recent interview, UK foreign affairs secretary Boris Johnson asserted that the British government should reject EU demands that the country continue to make "vast budget payments" to the bloc following Brexit.
Committee Calls for Special EU Status for Northern Ireland

March 21, 2017

A committee of the Oireachtas, the legislative body of Ireland, has called for Irish authorities to negotiate a "special status" for Northern Ireland within the EU that would permit citizens of Northern Ireland to retain EU citizenship and access to the bloc's "single market" after Brexit.
Poland Objects to Process of EU Emissions Reform

March 20, 2017

Reuters reports that Polish officials have threatened the EU with a legal challenge of draft rules reforming the bloc's emissions trading system to raise the cost of greenhouse gas emissions for businesses operating in Europe, arguing that EU treaties require unanimous consent for binding rules forcing a change in countries' energy policies.
EU "Core" Countries Seek "Multi-Speed" Integration

March 17, 2017

Meeting in Versailles, France, the four countries that will be the largest in the EU following Britain's exit agreed to advocate for a "multi-speed" Europe allowing a "core" group of countries to transfer their sovereign powers to EU institutions at a quicker rate than other countries more wary of Brussels' intervention.
French President: "Last Duty" Is to Save EU

March 16, 2017

Politico reports that outgoing French President François Hollande has asserted that his "last duty is to do everything possible" to ensure France remains in the EU and has warned that, without the implementation of proposals for an EU with "multi-speed" federalization, "Europe will explode."
UK Peers Find No Obligation to Pay EU Settlement

March 16, 2017

According to The Guardian, EU officials are responding to a report from the UK House of Lords' EU financial affairs subcommittee asserting that Britain has no international legal obligation to pay any settlement of its commitments to the EU after Brexit by threatening that the UK will not obtain an EU trade deal if it does not "honour all financial obligations falling due."
UK Parliament Authorizes Brexit Notification

March 15, 2017

The Washington Post reports that the UK Parliament has approved a bill granting Prime Minister Theresa May the authority to notify the EU that the country intends to exit the bloc and to trigger Brexit negotiations after rejecting amendments on the rights of EU migrants and parliamentary approval of the terms of exit.
French Vote Determines EU Future

March 15, 2017

The Economist has published an article illustrating how this year's upcoming presidential election in France is both a microcosm of a political battle in the West between globalists and nationalists and an event that will have substantial implications on the future of the EU.
EU Warns Members on Migrant Resettlement

March 15, 2017

Faced with the failure of its refugee resettlement program to relocate a large proportion of asylum seekers in countries throughout the EU, despite progress in returning migrants to Turkey, the European Commission has warned that it "will not hesitate" to sanction members for failing to meet resettlement targets imposed by EU legislation.