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
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?
Benoît Hamon is the Socialist Party’s candidate in the approaching French presidential election. Poll results do not give him much of a chance of reaching the deciding vote but he has some interesting views on the EU which we think are worth sharing, and commenting on. Hamon is also a member of the Party of … More A Socialist Alternative
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
We posted our review of the Declaration on 26 March (see The Rome Declaration) but for balance we give here a summary of the view of EU Observer, reported on 28 March, as they are reliably pro-EU while sharing some of our reservations and offering an intelligent alternative perspective. “With the ceremonial signing of the … More Rome Declaration – an alternative view
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 notion that member states of the EU love the project (or at least may soon do so again) is absurd but needs to be repeated often in the hope that enough people may come to believe the propaganda. Jean-Claude Juncker is quoted by EU Observer as telling Bild am Sonntag that no other country … More “All you need is love”
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
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
This EU Won't Work 