Our review of an article about President Macron’s recent proposal to discuss the EU’s future with his citizens. In a recent article for The Conversation Richard Youngs, Professor of International and European Politics at the University of Warwick, offers his observations on the proposal of Emmanuel Macron for a series of ‘conventions’ in EU member … More Carry on Macron
Score Settling The Greek MEP, Stelios Kouloglou, insists that the EU’s Brexit negotiators must raise the issue of the return of the “Elgin Marbles” to the Parthenon. This has concerned Greek politicians for many years but regardless of whether the case is justified it is not related to EU membership. Member states should not link … More Signs of Fragility
There must be a less top-heavy form of collaboration that would not be so risky and that Britain could participate in wholeheartedly. There is a pre-existing, broader community of European nations which can be built upon to create a more practical solution. EU leaders and advocates seem to assume that theirs is the best or … More An Alternative for Europe
Brexit negotiations have begun at last. Ninety-eight British negotiators showed up for the Battle of Brussels, ready to go and smiling for the cameras – or were most of them extras hired from Pinewood Studios? We simply don’t know how ready the Government is. It seems likely that we’re in for months of pointless argument. … More Interregnum
That is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the bungs and sorrows of outrageous fortune seekers, or with a bold ruling end them? Badness in great ones must not unwatched go. The EU has many examples of absurd regulations, for example the Germans can’t label their jam as ‘marmalade’ in … More To See, or Not to See?
In two recent posts (Regime Standards and Shorties-10) we concluded that the EU’s ideology of ever closer union has done identifiable damage in at least one area – fire standards. Once the EU has regulated a standard its member states are obliged to implement that standard and not introduce anything that contradicts it, even if … More Standard Confusion
A collection of five short, independent pieces on various topics. Distributed Culpability In his blog EUReferendum.com Dr Richard North has a series of posts examining the relevance of EU standards to the cause of the disastrous fire at Grenfell Tower in London on June 15. He has been able to trace back the origin of … More Shorties-10
The 20th anniversary of the hand-over of Hong Kong to China by the British triggered some thoughts of similarities between that David-and-Goliath pair and the EU-UK pairing. The Economist (TE) published an article on June 22 with the heading “Still on borrowed time”, which seems to fit the Article 50 deadline as well. Below we … More Comparative Studies
Exactly 365 days after the Referendum decision to leave the European Union the Prime Minister offered to let EU immigrants who’ve been in the UK for five years remain and enjoy all the rights of British citizens. Apparently that’s not good enough, according to Jean-Claude Junker, however, it’s infinitely better than the EU’s offer to British … More Anniversary Thoughts
Following the disaster at Grenfell Tower in Kensington, Dr Richard North has two recent posts (18 and 19 June) in his blog, EUReferendum.com, which discuss how responsibility should be allocated between national and international governments (he does not bring local government into his discussion). He is thorough in his analysis and cautious in his conclusions. … More Regime Standards
This EU Won't Work 