Democracy Impacts

Committee: UK Should Maintain EU Climate Targets

September 14, 2016

In spite of its prediction that the UK will not achieve EU-imposed targets for the country's shift to renewable energy sources by the year 2020, the UK Parliament's Energy and Climate Change Committee has called on the Government to maintain these targets even after it leaves the bloc.
Lawsuit Targets Juncker's Refusal to Negotiate Brexit

September 14, 2016

The Guardian reports that a group called Fair Deal for Expats has filed a complaint at the Court of Justice of the EU arguing that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's "presidential order" seeking to prevent officials from negotiating with the UK prior to the country's filing formal notice of "Brexit" is a fabricated device that has no force of law.
Official Presents Plan for Ramped-up EU "Battlegroups"

September 14, 2016

The Guardian reports that the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini has issued a policy document calling for increased use of Brussels as headquarters for European “battlegroups” that could intervene in crises and that would eventually develop into a "common European defence structure."
UK Opposition Leader Calls for Break with EU "Single Market"

September 14, 2016

The Telegraph reports that Leader of the UK Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn has called for the UK to maintain access to but not full membership in the EU's "single market," asserting that membership in the market requires acceptance of cumbersome "state aid" rules and the liberalization of public services.
UK Pledges Robust Post-Brexit Immigration Control

September 13, 2016

The Daily Mail reports that UK Government officials have proposed the post-Brexit replacement of free movement with EU member states with a work-permit regime that would only allow migrants who had already secured a job in the UK to enter the country and would not discriminate on the basis of country of origin.
Anti-EU Party Beats Merkel's Party in German Vote

September 13, 2016

Signaling the strength of the anti-EU, anti-Islam Alternative for Germany ("AfD") party in the run-up to next year's German parliamentary elections, the BBC reports that AfD beat out German Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party for second place in an important state election in the northeastern part of the country.
Ireland Keeps EU Army Plan at Arm's Length

September 07, 2016

The Irish Independent reports that Irish government officials are distancing themselves from reported EU plans, backed by national leaders from Central and Eastern Europe, to create common EU military structures that would work independently of NATO.
Tyrie: EU's "Four Freedoms" Are Not Inviolable

September 02, 2016

British Member of Parliament Andrew Tyrie has published a paper discussing post-Brexit options for the UK and asserting that EU leaders need a "reality check" in acknowledging that the bloc's so-called "four freedoms" - of goods, services, people, and capital - "are not inviolable and inextricably interdependent."
Britain Seeks to Maintain EU Market Access

September 02, 2016

UK Brexit Minister David Davis has stated that the UK Government's goal in negotiations over the UK's departure from the EU is to retain tariff-free access to the bloc's single market while regaining authority to control migration from other EU member states.
ECJ President: Brexit Is Still "Speculative"

September 02, 2016

In a recent interview, President of the Court of Justice of the EU Koen Lenaerts hypothesized that, despite the outcome of Britain's referendum on leaving the EU, it is still not clear whether Brexit will occur, as "a lot still has to happen."