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
Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, issued a press release on 31 January which we should challenge. “The challenges currently facing the European Union are more dangerous than ever before …” Tusk outlines three areas of threat: first, external, from China, Russia, the Middle East and Africa, and the new US administration; second, anti-EU, … More United we stand, unified we fail
The EU treaties describe the proper procedure for making laws; this procedure is regularly subverted in practice by the secretive ‘trilogue’ process. The EUobserver website has some information about the growing secrecy of EU law-making here. The organisation, largely supportive of the EU, describes itself as follows: “EUobserver is an independent online newspaper which values free … More Law-making in Secret
The Prime Minister’s speech on Tuesday 17th January contained a little for everyone, yet few seemed pleased. We have concluded that we should attempt our own interpretation of Mrs May’s words. We quote freely from the speech, so that readers can know what our interpretations are based on, and we add comments only where we … More The PM’s Brexit Speech
This post focuses on a single issue; the ideology underlying the demands for progress towards Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The evidence is drawn from the Five Presidents Report (5PR); its roadmap remains the basis for maintaining progress towards completing the Union. At no point in the 5PR can we find any rationale for EMU; … More Fixated on Union
Martin Schulz is moving on from the Presidency of the European Parliament to campaign for a senior post in the German government in their election later this year. The full speech Schulz gave to the European Council on 15 December 2016, from which we offer some highlights, is transcribed here. He is, as usual, strong … More Insider Out
Louis Rouanet has an interesting article on the website of the Mises Institute here. “What is Europe? It seems that no rigorous answer can be provided. Europe is not exactly a continent. It is not a political entity. It is not a united people….Europe has no founding fathers. Its birth was not orchestrated but completely … More Is EU anti-European?
Social Progress There are many views and differing priorities on how society can be improved but there are two ends to the spectrum. The first is a plan formulated to address today’s problems, intended to leap or progress rapidly towards an ideal model. The second is a process of continual tinkering to adapt to current … More Shorties-5
On its website the EU outlines, among other things, its current ten priorities for the future. Here is one of them: The Commission’s work on completing the Economic and Monetary Union builds on the Five Presidents’ Report. Here’s how the Commission sees its main policy areas under this priority: A genuine Economic Union that ensures … More They think they can do better
This EU Won't Work 