URL: Latest posts
When ideology meets economic reality (part III): Germany squabbles over the Financial Transaction Tax
NEW
U-Turn? The SPD has traditionally endorsed the FTTThe Bundesbank, The Deutscher Aktieninstitute (DAI), and even EU civil servants from the 11 participating countries have all warned against the FTT in its current form. Today saw yet another German vo...
Would an 'independent' UK get a better US trade deal than the EU?
NEW
Could the UK sucessfully negotiate a trade deal with the US?Yesterday MEPs voted on a resolution to back defensive measures to exclude cultural and some agricultural products, such as genetically modified foods from a proposed free trade deal with th...
Good news: Commission bottles it on olive oil ban
NEW
As early as the twenty-fourth century B.C., the Romans introduced elaborate measures to counter-act fraudulent practices in the olive oil trade. Many amphora fragments bear stamped inscriptions or handwritten notes that record information s...
"If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher" - The Commission utterly fails to address participants' concerns over FTT
NEW
There's an old Latin saying, "If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher." Reading the Commission's defence of its proposed EU financial transaction tax (FTT), that phrase immediately sprung to mind. It's not the strongest piece, to...
Another blow in the bank bonus debate - but there's something far more fundamental at work here
NEW
Yesterday saw the opening salvo of what is sure to become a heated debate over the new ‘technical standards’ for the EU’s banker bonus rules. Why is this so important? Well, these rules will essentially determine how far reaching th...
The UK manages to water down the EU's north sea power grab - to Scotland's benefit
NEW
MEPs yesterday voted on a new safety regime for offshore oil and gas platforms. And what do you know, it appears that the UK has managed to come up with an acceptable solution. Fears that the Commission's original plan to push its plans via a re...
Why not shrink the European Commission?
NEW
The online edition of German weekly Der Spiegel reports on "secret" plans by EU heads of state and government to stick to the 'one country, one EU Commissioner' principle, despite the number of Commissioners being set to rise to 28 following Croatia'...
EEA plus: a model for the future of the UK in Europe?
NEW
For all the noise about Europe in the UK, British sceptics (with some exceptions) aren't necessarily great at thinking outside the box. We have previously looked at the existing models used by countries that have decided against/...
The UK electorate is in the market for something more than the false choice of status quo or exit
NEW
When it comes to the question of whether the UK ought to stay in the EU there are two key considerations. Is continued membership the best solution from an economic perspective (trade, regulation etc) and also is it democratically sustainable? (Other...
Howarth: It's Crunch Time for Britain and the EU
NEW
Open Europe's Christopher Howarth wrote the following article for Ireland's leading business paper the Sunday Business PostWith MPs in the UK passionately discussing holding a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU you could be forgiven fo...
This is welcome stuff: David Lidington says national parliaments could be given a 'red card' over EU proposals
NEW
National Parliaments' should be allowed to show the EU the red cardThis is an idea that's very close to our hearts - and an idea that we have promoted for a very long time.The first bits of UK Europe Minister David Lidington's interview with German d...
Hollande goes on the offensive - two years to achieve political union in Europe
NEW
The French media called it François Hollande's "grand oral exam". The French President has just held a big press conference at the Elysée palace marking his first year in office. And he said a couple of very interesting things about his...
James Wharton MP wins the lottery to take on the EU referendum Bill
NEW
Now the Conservatives have published their EU Referendum Bill there only remains the small question of how it could become law. It will not be a Government Bill but will now be taken forward as a "Private Members Bill". As such its chances of surviva...
Where do EU member states stand on bank bail-in plans?
NEW
It’s been pretty tough to follow where countries stand on the latest proposals for the EU’s Recovery and Resolution Directive, not least because the debate has lasted three years with people mostly talking past each other.But the Cypriot...
Nick Clegg: EU referendum a question of "if not when"
NEW
With David Cameron away in the US, Nick Clegg took to the dispatch box for Prime Minister’s Questions today. Unsurprisingly, there was no shortage of references to EU referendums, most of them of a hostile nature. Ahead of today’s de...
Cameron: Before the 2015 election, we will do everything we can to make an EU referendum the law
NEW
David Cameron just sent out this note to Conservative members and activists: In January, I set out our party’s position on Europe. I made clear that the EU needed fundamental, far reaching change - and that Britain would lead the way in negotia...
"Do you think that the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union?” - the Tories publish their EU Referendum Bill
NEW
The Conservative Party has just published their EU Referendum Bill which will provide for a referendum before 31 December 2017.The Question will be:“Do you think that the United Kingdom should remain a member of the European Union?” Doesn...
Lord Leach: EU reform is the best option
NEW
Open Europe’s chairman Lord Leach of Fairford has an op-ed in today's Times, where he argues:Fifteen years ago, when a handful of businessmen set up Business for Sterling to stop Britain joining the euro, we were cold-shouldered by the BBC, pat...
Splits in Germany (and beyond) over banking union?
NEW
It’s been a week of 'splits' over Europe and it looks like another one may be emerging – although this time in Germany. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble had an article in the FT arguing:"While today’s EU treaties provi...
Number of MPs backing referendum amendment grows - we see where they're coming from, but what are they backing?
NEW
47 MPs have now put their name to an amendment to the Queen's Speech that begs "leave to offer our humble thanks to Your Majesty for the Gracious Speech...but respectfully regret that an EU referendum bill was not included in the Gracious Speech."Thi...
