100 posts
Is the new Treaty really sustainable?
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By Cristina Mariani Analysis: 25 Member States agreed on the new Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union. Is it sustainable? “With this treaty, the contracting parties agree, as member states of the E...
High hopes for the first European Citizens’ Initiative
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Less than ten weeks remain before EU citizens will be able to register the very first European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). From 1 April, citizens will be able to call on the European Commission to propose legislation on any issue where …...
Online Petitions to Put EU under Public Scrutiny
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Article by Honor Mahony published on the EUObserver, 28 January 2012 With just weeks until to go until the EU dips its toe into the unpredictable world of participatory democracy, internet giants are warning the European Commission it had better be p...
Put an end to State Visits with red Carpet within EU
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Monday, January 23rd 2012, the new Belgian Prime Minister di Rupo flew to Berlin for a one-hour working lunch with his German counterpart, Chancellor Merkel, to make her personal acquaintance and prepare for the European Council meeting on January 30...
Drafting EU law: Who cares for TEU and TFEU anyway?
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As an academic working on EU affairs you are sometimes forced to read EU law, even if that is not the most beautiful prose you come across in your life. On one of these EU law journeys I had to read the “Proposal for a Regulation of the Europea...
Merkel’s political union
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel is not one for high emotions. Public speeches are calm and measured. During debates in the Bundestag, she drives home points using repetition rather than rhetorical flourish. Her press conferences at the increasingly r...
Norway’s Europeanisation and the democratic deficit
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The Norwegian Government has just published a 900-page long report titled “Outside and Inside - Norway’s agreements with the European Union” (the link leads to the English translation of the 1st chapter). The report summarises the scop...
The Challenge of Democratic Representation in the European Union
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Edited by Sandra Kröger and Dawid Friedrich, Palgrave Macmillan, 30 November 2011 The present book is highly topical and contributes to what may be perceived as the ‘representative turn’ in EU studies.What does political representation in th...
Too small (a step) to succeed
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La crise a popularisé l’expression de langue anglaise « too big to fail », pour signifier qu’un établissement financier est trop gros pour faire faillite si sa ruine doit entraîner celle de tout le système financier mondialisé. A...
The Worlds of European Constitutionalism
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Book edited by Grainne de Burca and Joseph H. Weiler, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2012 The idea of the EU as a constitutional order has recently taken on renewed life, as the Court of Justice declared the primacy of EU law not just over na...
Plus ça change...
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Today I had the opportunity to attend a very interesting Book Discussion on the upcoming new book by Héritier et al. about the European Commissions old and new powers of delegated rulemaking and implementation. (The somewhat awkward avoidance of the...
The Draft Euro Fiscal Pact - Episode IV
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We have just got our hands on the fourth draft of the European 'fiscal pact' (this time, the Telegraph's Bruno Waterfield - who is always quick off the blocks - beat us to it), which is being circulated among national delegations tonight. At a first...
Norway almost as deeply integrated in the EU as the UK
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When we think about Norway and the European Union, Britain tends to surface. But what is Norway's EU relationship in reality? Media shortcut EurActiv alerted me to the publication of the study on future EU relations of Norway. The article presents th...
Whatever happened to Declan Ganley?
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Is Declan Ganley an anti-European, or a pro-European in disguise? Why is European integration failing to deliver growth and security? How might a new Europe be re-constituted democratically in light of falling public support?
Denmark: EU Council presidency with opt-outs
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The previous Grahnlaw post mentioned three of the Danish EU opt-outs. Let us take a brief look at all of them. Danish opt-outs At least on paper, Denmark looks like Britain, having four opt-outs from European co-operation. These opt-outs concern defe...
If .... then .... else! Ancient Greece, USA, Europe
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If the city-states of Ancient Greece had united into one entity, the History of the world 450 BC - present would be different If the states of America were not united & thus had not joined WWI and WWII, the history of the world 1914-present woul...
As a national parliamentarian, why would you bother with EU matters?
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The first briefing today is from the EU Affairs Committee of the Danish Parliament. This committee has the reputation as being the toughest of the 27 national parliaments when it comes to holding national ministers to account before they head …...
Utkast till Piratpartiets principer om EU
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Som jag skrev i mitt förra inlägg om Piratpartiets principer vad gäller EU, ska förslag på skrivningar i det nya Principprogram 4.0 vara inskickade till partiledaren senast den 15 januari. Här är ett utkast till ett avsnitt om EU, som jag tän...
What Sarkozy says about peace in Europe is nonsense
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We always need to have a sense of proportion monsieur Sarkozy. Image Source: The Guardian In a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, French President Sarkozy said the following (by Reuters): We do not have the right to drop...
Piratpartiets principer om EU, 2009 och i framtiden
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Just nu diskuterar vi internt i Piratpartiet hur vi ska uppdatera vårt nuvarande Principprogram 3.4 till en ny version 4.0. Utkast 2 till det nya programmet ligger ute i forumet. Alla är välkomna med synpunkter och förslag fram till den 15 januar...
EU Commission fears power loss in the Eurozone crisis
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As you may remember, the last European Council meeting on 8 & 9 December 2011 ended with the conclusion that no unanimity for a Treaty change was achieved. Thus, an intergovernmental treaty was needed to move ahead to continue the anti-crisis mea...
Even if the EU became a functioning representative democracy tomorrow it’s not going to solve its ills
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What do you do when one of the fundamental things you’ve believed in for years, have spent ages working towards, is actually not anywhere near as desirable as you previously thought? That’s basically the predicament I find myself in these...
Any hope for Europe?
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My article Any hope for Europe? has now been published by New Europe (Our World In 2012). Ralf Grahn...
Democracy Deficit in the E.U.’s State-Rights Federalism: The Debt Crisis
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Holding back additional transfers of governmental sovereignty from the state legislatures to the E.U.’s legislative chambers not only inevitably pushes power to non-democratic E.U.-level institutions, notably the ECB; the democratic basis eve...
The most modern form of Government
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If by modern, up to date and so one we mean the most democratic that is.Just look at the Economist's Democracy Index 2011 and one thing is very striking from those that their experts consider the most democractic.NorwayIcelandDenmarkSweden New Zealan...
That clever Mr Legal
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The European Union gets to work on its favourite topic: tinkering with treaties...
Euro sovereign
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@HECParis has tweeted a manifesto by Jean Monnet chairs Stabilizing the Euro Area and the EU, posted on Facebook. Even if the article was posted 30 November 2011, many of the basics concerning the common currency are presented in a clear manner. One...
New resolve in euro crisis – Is it enough?
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Despite up Eurs style unhelpfulness, twisted Tory priorities and possibly continuing sabotage from the UK government of David Cameron, the eurozone countries and the other EU members still have the main task in front of them. For those too busy to re...
The Rise of the Euro-Middle.
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I have been discussing the European Union with various groups of friends this week, and what’s remarkable is the common position that is emerging. Nearly all have regular interaction with the EU in one form or another, although none are what I...
The question I couldn’t ask at EU summit
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It’s not easy to do your job as a Brussels journalist these days. Herman Van Rompuy’s spokesperson gave the floor to only two colleagues to ask a question at the EU summit final press conference. And he made sure that they would be from...
New ”fiscal compact” for eurozone (2 x updated)
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How can anyone defend (or even call for more) intergovernmental solutions to common problems at the European level, or even tolerate the EU our leaders and their predecessors have built? With democratic government and sufficient powers the European U...
Merkel and Sarkozy’s Letter to Van Rompuy laying out the Dec 5 Agreement
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So I found the joint Franco-German press conference from December 5, at the website of the French Presidency (so in French) and confirmed (08:15 into the video) that the reporters did not misrepresent their statements. Merkel and Sarkozy had no ̷...
European Council 8 to 9 December 2011: Euro solution or failure? (Updated)
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Paris, Berlin or Brussels... Credible, accountable and democratic government is not on the cards for the European Union or the eurozone, so what can we expect from the European Council Thursday and Friday, 8 to 9 December 2011? Among many, many, let...
Merkozy euro proposals face EU members and Standard & Poor's
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Even if the web is overflowing with reports and comments on the Merkozy proposals, there is cause to record the primary sources from the last two days. Paris The German chancellor Angela Merkel met the French president Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysée...
The EU on a way to federation
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So it looks like France and Germany agreed for a new treaty change. Yet this time the logic of change is different. It is enough if some 17 plus countries ratify the new treaty for it to come into force. This looks like a situation experienced by the...
Merkozy fiddles while eurozone burns
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The president of the European Council and the Euro Summits, Herman Van Rompuy, and the leaders in the 25 other European capitals sit twiddling their thumbs, waiting for Merkozy. What makes it even more absurd is that few expect the German chancellor...
Euro: Waiting for Merkozy
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Heads of government (or state) in most European capitals may think about Samuel Beckett, as they wait for Merkozy. At least publicly their common president of the European Council and the Euro Summits, Herman Van Rompuy, has not published proposals t...
EU and euro crisis: Internal weaknesses and unanimity
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Some countries are born weak, some achieve weakness and some have weakness thrust upon them. The United Kingdom joined the EEC (later EU) late and grudgingly, after its EFTA strategy failed. Britain has worked hard to drag the course of European inte...
One Union with varying speeds of integration?
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Closer cooperation of the eurogroup countries, though necessary, creates the risk of creating serious rifts in the EU, leaving it more than ever divided between insiders and outsiders. However, even though more integration of the eurogroup in the fie...
An American President Meets the E.U.: Corrective Exigencies of a Debt Crisis
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Political protocol can take some time to catch up to changed political realities. For over two hundred years, it has been assumed that U.S. presidents have met with their counterparts in E.U. states such as Britain, France, and Germany. During the Eu...
Magical Formula
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Following the example of Peter Lindseth, I thought I'd also copy/paste my reply to Kenneth Anderson's question on Opinio Juris:Part 1:Kenneth,I’m not sure that I understand what you’re looking for. Obviously there is analysis like the one mention...
A geeks’ guide to the Secretariat General of the European Commission
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Did you ever find yourself desperately looking for a small piece of information of the EU, usually a geeky procedural detail, and were unable to find it on any of the EU institutions website? Are you sometimes wondering who deals with rather specific...
Eurozone good governance, transparency and democracy
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As long as the self-proclaimed leaders of the eurozone reject democratic and sufficient powers at European level, efforts and rumours will concentrate on artificial and ineffective solutions to the euro crisis. The next European Council (summit) is c...
EU treaty games
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What, exactly, does Germany want from EU Treaty change to enforce budget discipline in the eurozone? Even if one speaks to diplomats and ministers with a front row seat on this issue, a straight answer is hard to come by – which is partly due to th...
Merkel and Sarkozy brewing Faustian pact
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A new week, and a new episode in the eurozone cliffhanger is about to begin. Only democratic and legitimate government with sufficient powers at European level can lay the robust and politically acceptable foundations needed. Euro bonds won't work wi...
Euro cliffhanger: Crashing or not?
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A short while ago @NinaMariaPotts tweeted me this: @RalfGrahn Utterly depressing. #eurozone and #eu economies about to fall off a cliff - and #EU still scrambling around in the dark #crisisHer tweet comes quite close to what I am feeling: Eac...
