European Institutions

UK Official: New Brexit Deal Terms Present No Clear Exit Path

March 12, 2019

UK Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has asserted that British Prime Minister Theresa May’s new Brexit deal terms would still not permit the UK to withdraw unilaterally from the EU customs union under the deal’s provisions for an Irish border “backstop” if negotiators encounter “intractable differences” in negotiating a future UK-EU deal.
ECtHR Calls for Review of Life Sentences in Ukraine

March 12, 2019

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has called on the Ukrainian government to review every case in which the country’s courts have sentenced convicted criminals to life imprisonment to determine whether the detention is justified and inform prisoners the conditions under which they may be granted release.
ECtHR: Icelandic Leaders Violated Rights with Judicial Appointments

March 12, 2019

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has held that the appointment by the Icelandic Prime Minister and Parliament of four judges of the country’s High Court against the advice of an evaluation committee was a “flagrant breach of the applicable rules” and violated the rights of an applicant whose case was pending before that Court.
CDU Chief Outlines Vision of Balance Between EU, Nation States

March 11, 2019

Politico reports that the new leader of the governing German CDU Party Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has responded to French President Emmanuel Macron’s vision for a “European renaissance” with an op-ed opposing “European centralism” but calling for focused EU policies on immigration, defense, and climate change.
EU Countries Reject Money-Laundering “Blacklist”

March 08, 2019

EU member states have unanimously rejected a proposed “blacklist” imposing enhanced monitoring requirements on EU banks operating in certain non-EU countries and US territories accused of lax money-laundering enforcement, as national officials asserted the list “was not established in a transparent and resilient process.”