Dis-integration

From Jean-Claude Juncker’s State of the Union address to the European Parliament last September: “I have witnessed several decades of EU integration … But never before have I seen such little common ground between our Member States. So few areas where they agree to work together.”  From the Rome Declaration of March 2017:  “Europe became … More Dis-integration

Who wants the Euro?

The recent White Paper from the European Commission put forward five possible scenarios for the development of the EU towards 2025. We reviewed the paper in Our Commentary on the White Paper and More on the White Paper. One of the posited scenarios was that the Union would progress at different speeds; the multi-speed scenario. … More Who wants the Euro?

Divorce Guidelines

The European Council has produced its Draft guidelines following the United Kingdom’s notification under Article 50 TEU (Treaty of the European Union). They take the predicted hard line, as we examine below. Although dated 31/03/2017 and leaked on 1st April, there is little inside to amuse us. These are draft guidelines but we should not … More Divorce Guidelines

Barney or Blarney?

Michel Barnier, who if nothing changes will be the “Chief Negotiator for the Preparation and Conduct of the Negotiations with the United Kingdom”, gave a speech on 22 March to the plenary session of the European Committee of the Regions. In this post we comment on excerpts from his speech, selecting items that give clues … More Barney or Blarney?

The Rome Declaration

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

Deal, or No Deal

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

Romancing in Rome

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