Democracy Impacts

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.
EU Paper Sets Course for Continuing Integration

March 15, 2017

An article on EurActiv highlights how a recent white paper from the European Commission outlining various paths forward for the EU appears to favor a "multi-speed" proposal allowing a core of members to quickly transfer their sovereignty to EU institutions and incorporates no scenario in which powers are comprehensively returned to the member states.
UK Officials Debate Pre-Brexit Migration Rights

March 14, 2017

The Guardian reports that British officials are debating options regarding how and when to alter the rights of citizens of EU countries to migrate to the UK prior to Brexit, including through a five-year visa for EU citizens coming to work in certain sectors of the UK economy.
EU Trade Is Priority for UK Companies

March 14, 2017

The British Chambers of Commerce has published a report entitled Business Brexit Priorities in which it relays calls from UK businesses for the British Government to seek in its Brexit negotiations to maintain a close trading relationship with the EU and to avoid "bureaucratic" barriers to the migration of EU workers.
National Legislators Seek Federal Europe

March 14, 2017

In preparation for an upcoming parliamentary meeting in Rome, national legislators from France, Italy, Germany, and Luxembourg have authored a letter calling for the summit, in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, to advance Europe toward "closer political integration – the Federal Union of States with broad powers."