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Commentator: EU's Path Forward Is Via National Sovereignty
January 10, 2018
Author and commentator John Lloyd writes that the EU should not lose itself in a post-Brexit "integrationist pipe dream" but rather should strengthen the bloc's national governments as politically accountable actors and "recast the Union as a loose association of friendly states" that offers both cooperation and flexibility.
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Italian Party Backs off Call for Euro Referendum
January 10, 2018
Reuters reports that the head of Italy's 5-Star Movement Luigi Di Maio has rolled back his party's commitment to hold a referendum on Italy's membership of the eurozone as the group leads opinion polls in the months prior to Italy's March election.
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EU Chief Rejects Talk of Reducing Funding to Poland
January 10, 2018
Politico reports that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has rejected growing calls from officials in Western European countries to withhold development funding from Poland for alleged violations of rule-of-law norms in the country's judicial system, dismissing such proposals as "wild threats."
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Commentator: EU Response to Spain Shows "Double Standard"
January 10, 2018
Economist Andrea Hossó writes that the EU's criticism of threats to democratic values in Poland and Hungary "has acquired a tinge of Alice in Wonderland" when the supranational organization fails to call out Spain for its police violence against Catalonian citizens attempting to vote for independence.
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Despite Brexit, Juncker Seeks Larger EU Budget
January 10, 2018
Reuters reports that, despite the impending exit of the UK from the bloc, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called for the EU budget to grow to deal with issues in which the supranational organization is expanding its influence, including security, migration, and defense.