Democracy Impacts

Swiss Party's Petition Challenges Foreign Courts

August 25, 2016

Reuters reports that the Swiss People's Party has published a petition, which will launch a popular referendum if it receives a threshold number of signatures, seeking a halt to what the party deems to be the erosion of the Swiss system of direct democracy at the hands of foreign courts, such as the European Court of Human Rights.
Report Explores Best Path for Brexit

August 24, 2016

A report published by the Competitive Enterprise Institute outlines how the UK can best promote economic prosperity as it negotiates its departure from the EU, including by establishing a unique trading relationship with the bloc and forming a commission to jettison EU regulations that threaten economic freedom.
MEPs Threaten Funding Cut-off for Refusing Migrants

August 24, 2016

Politico reports that two German Members of the European Parliament have called on the EU to withhold promised funding from countries, such as Hungary and Poland, that are resisting an EU plan to resettle migrants throughout the bloc.
Swiss Party Official Opposes Closer EU Ties

August 08, 2016

Reuters reports that, as Swiss Government officials negotiate a "framework treaty" that would result in closer institutional ties with the EU, Christoph Blocher, Vice-President of the Swiss People's Party, has warned of the sovereignty implications of subordinating Swiss institutions to EU institutions, regulations, and courts.
Open Europe: EEA Fails to Address Brexiters' Concerns

August 04, 2016

A briefing from UK think tank Open Europe explains why Britain's option of joining the European Economic Area in place of its membership of the EU would not address the reasons why most "Brexit" voters chose to leave the EU, including the inability of the UK to restrict immigration.
UK Peer Calls for Brexit Delay

August 01, 2016

The Independent reports that Baroness Wheatcroft of the British House of Lords has called for her body to delay any legislation that aims to trigger a British exit from the EU in order to encourage the launch of a second referendum on the UK's membership in the bloc.
Academic: May Ignores Aims of Average Brexit Voter

August 01, 2016

Professor Vernon Bogdanor of King's College, London, writes that newly installed UK Prime Minister Theresa May has a sharply different vision of a free trade-oriented and liberal post-Brexit Britain than people who voted for the UK to leave the EU as a protest against globalization's effects on the working class.
May: EU Migrant Pledge Hinges on Brexit Negotiations

July 28, 2016

At a press conference with the Italian Prime Minister, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said her Government would only guarantee the rights of EU migrants to continue living in the UK following Brexit if other EU countries make the same pledge for UK migrants living on their soil.
MPs Seek Prevention of Pre-Brexit Migration Surge

July 28, 2016

Warning of a surge in migration from the EU to the UK as Brexit approaches, members of the British Parliament's Home Affairs Committee have urged the government to identify a "cut-off date" after which EU migrants to the country will no longer be permitted to remain.
UK Secretary Seeks EU Free Trade Deal

July 27, 2016

Politico reports that UK International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is seeking to secure a free trade deal with the EU, rather than an agreement to enter a customs union with the bloc, by the time of Britain's next general election in 2020.