We didn’t expect any startling declarations or ideas for reform and the Declaration lives down to our expectations. The theme is Unity, though what this means is not defined, or even made clear. Only by leaving it as a slogan could it be accepted by all member states, or at least by their leaders. Defining it … More The Rome Declaration
The EU Observer has an article illustrating how the EU’s desperation to show that it brings results obliges it to fudge facts and so further risk its tattered reputation for trustworthiness. To be fair, the EU Observer points up the fudging but we draw the inference to ‘desperation’. We share their view on the risk … More Potential Energy
Theresa May has announced that Article 50 will be triggered on March 29th, in just a week’s time. We (this blog’s authors) usually agree but on the issue of the Brexit negotiations our views are sufficiently different to warrant separate passages. We’ll present them both and then show that they are not necessarily in contradiction. … More Deal, or No Deal
The Rome summit on 25 March will be largely about self-congratulation; we don’t expect much discussion on reform, let alone any agreement on what is needed or how to do it. In this post we look at some of the issues they won’t face up to at the event, or elsewhere. Reviewing our reading in … More Romancing in Rome
Tomas Prouza, state secretary for European affairs for the Czech Republic, has an article in the EUobservers website, which takes a lead from the recent Commission White Paper. The article closely echoes some of the text of the White Paper but also makes some points that raise fresh questions. The author explains that the initial … More Thinking Wishfully
Sometimes Remainers are their own worst enemies. Categorising all those who voted against you as stupid and ignorant is complacent and is not a rebuttal of arguments in favour of leaving the EU. They fail to make their own case competently. They believe that remaining in the EU is so obviously the only thing worth … More Electively deaf to all reason?
This is a follow-up to Our Commentary on the White Paper (WP), offering a structured review in three parts: a Summary of the WP drawn from the Commission’s official website; some Background which relates the WP to previous EU statements; and finally Why it Matters, clarifying why we are pursuing this critique of the EU. … More More on the White Paper
We provide evidence that the EU’s White Paper exercise is not what it claims to be – the opener to a debate on reform. Instead it provides a distraction from current crises in the hope that the EU will be able to ride them out through this year and so carry on as planned with … More Our Commentary on the White Paper
The EUobserver website (euobserver.com), a sometimes critical but otherwise reliable supporter of the EU project has some interesting reports recently from which we draw more evidence that the EU is heading towards dissolution. They report that Joseph Muscat, currently heading Malta’s presidency of the EU, wishes to see a ‘multi-speed’ Europe, by which we assume … More EU in Disarray?
Revolting Peers The Government was defeated in the House of Lords, which passed an amendment that would allow EU citizens now living in Britain to remain, regardless of whether a reciprocal agreement is negotiated for British citizens living on the Continent. We think it’s likely the Government won’t be too worried because they have repeatedly … More Shorties-7
This EU Won't Work 