Democracy Impacts

Dutch Vote on Ukraine Deal Serves as Referendum on EU

April 06, 2016

Politico reports that a referendum the Netherlands is holding today on an EU-Ukraine "association agreement" serves as a strategy for EU opponents to register citizens' discontent with the bloc.
EU Seeks Centralized Asylum Powers in Relocation Proposal

April 06, 2016

A European Commission proposal for a new resettlement plan that would impose requirements on EU member states to take in refugees first registered in other countries includes new powers for an EU agency to decide asylum requests on behalf of national governments.
UK Maintains Medical Payment Deficit with EU

April 05, 2016

Raising questions over the costs of remaining in the bloc, a group of campaigners calling for Britain to leave the EU has published research indicating that, on average, the UK pays approximately £723million more per year on its citizens' medical expenses in other EU countries than it receives back from these countries.
D'Arcy Analyzes "Mechanics" of Brexit

April 05, 2016

Journalist Mark D'Arcy has published a piece predicting what would happen in UK law and politics if the British electorate votes to leave the EU in June 2016, including a renegotiation of Britain's relationship with EU members and the repeal of a substantial amount of legislation that has given force to EU law in the UK.
UK Euroskeptics Warn of EU Free Movement Dangers

April 04, 2016

The Telegraph reports that UK campaigners for Britain to vote to leave the EU are drawing attention to a number of instances in which they say EU rules permitting free movement among member states led to the admission into the UK of suspected terrorists and convicted criminals, who in some cases subsequently committed criminal offenses in Britain.
Former MI6 Chief: Brexit Could Make UK Safer

March 31, 2016

Predicting that intelligence cooperation between the British government and others, including EU members and the US, would continue following a UK exit from the EU, former head of the British foreign intelligence service MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove has asserted that such an exit could actually lead to UK "security gains."
Swiss Official Warns UK on Perils of Post-Brexit Trade Deal

March 29, 2016

Highlighting the dangers of a post-Brexit trade deal that keeps the UK bound tightly to the bloc in law and policy, Politico reports that the Swiss Ambassador to the EU Roberto Balzaretti has warned Britain that an exit from the EU could cause the country to lose its seat at the Brussels bargaining table while still requiring the government to abide by EU rules.
EU Parliament Accepts Legislative Transparency

March 23, 2016

Following promises of openness in light of the success of anti-EU parties in the 2014 elections, the European Parliament has agreed to new rules aimed at increasing transparency in lawmaking at EU institutions, including through environmental and social impact assessments for legislation.
Iceland PM: UK Has Diminishing Influence in EU

March 10, 2016

According to The Telegraph, the Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson has warned that, in an EU where Germany increasingly controls the direction of policy, Britain is losing influence and would be unable to push market-friendly reforms through the EU institutions if it chooses to remain in the bloc.
Hague: EU Should Grant Turkey "Associate Membership"

March 09, 2016

Former UK foreign secretary William Hague has called on the EU to create a new category of "associate membership" that would encompass such countries as the UK and Turkey that do not wish to, or cannot, strive for "ever closer union" but do wish to maintain strong ties with the bloc.