100 posts
Let the British people decide whether they still want to be part of the EU | Natascha Engel
The last referendum on Europe was in 1975. Another vote is overdue – and it is not only the Tory right who think soLast year, we had to vote in a referendum on our voting system, but only because Nick Clegg made it a condition of entering a coaliti...
David Cameron increasingly looks both ways on Europe
Balancing the responsibilities of Britain’s membership of the European Union with his feral Eurosceptic backbenchers is proving well-nigh impossible for our pull me – push me Prime Minister. David Cameron is, inevitably, being forced into U tur...
David Cameron increasingly looks both ways on Europe
Balancing the responsibilities of Britain’s membership of the European Union with his feral Eurosceptic backbenchers is proving well-nigh impossible for our pull me – push me Prime Minister. David Cameron is, inevitably, being forced into U turns...
Europa in the newspapers
In case you’ve missed it, the Guardian has a small survey on How European are you? It’s less fun (for non-Brits) than it sounds but once you get to the results you are rewarded with a celar demonstration of how different the Guardian...
The Council of Europe: UK Diplomatic and Parliamentary Excellence
Sam Kelly, political officer at the UK Delegation in Strasbourg, reports on a busy week for post which included a visit by the Prime Minister to argue the UK’s case for reforming the European Court of Human Rights: Reform of the European Court of H...
Cameron’s pot has the temerity to call the Eurozone’s kettle black
David Cameron is one of those people who never fail to take the biscuit, and his attack on Angela Merkel in Davos yesterday was a massive one covered with lashings of chocolate. Cameron had the temerity at the World Economic … Continue reading...
Human Rights Court under fire
For many British politicians and for much of the UK press, the European Court of Human Rights is the very embodiment of foreign meddling in British life. Two particular findings of the Court have stirred passions in Britain: a 2005 ruling that anyone...
Human Rights Court under fire
For many British politicians and for much of the UK press, the European Court of Human Rights is the very embodiment of foreign meddling in British life. Two particular findings of the Court have stirred passions in Britain: a 2005 ruling that anyone...
Human rights: Cameron's message to Europe | Francesca Klug
The European court of human rights is not all David Cameron has his sights onTory backbenchers hoping for sabre-rattling by David Cameron at Strasbourg on Wednesday, when he delivered his speech on reform of the European court of human rights, will h...
Britain must open up to EU before it’s too late
With Germany and France tackling the Eurocrisis seemingly on their own, Britain lately feels even more on the sidelines than usual. It is easy to see why your British average Joe, or average Dave, would see some kind of conspiracy there. Euro-less Br...
David Cameron’s stance on the European Court of Human Rights would make Winston Churchill turn in his grave
In what seems like a follow-up to his stupidly short-sighted refusal to join all 26 other EU leaders in signing up to treaty change at the summit in Brussels on 9 December last year, David Cameron is again displaying his … Continue reading U...
Working with the EU to help pursue UK foreign policy objectives
I have just attended the January meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels and have been reflecting on how the collective weight of EU members can be harnessed to promote the UK’s national prosperity and security. For example, at the De...
Making the European Court of Human Rights work better
This week is a big week for the UK in Strasbourg. We are 11 weeks into our 6 month Chairmanship of the Council of Europe. We are pressing ahead with our wide-ranging Chairmanship priorities, in particular our ambitious package of reforms for the Euro...
"Isolated Britain" by NewsWatch
Anybody who still claims that the recent conflict following Britain’s veto at the latest summit has not isolated Britain in the EU should have a look at the current draft of the fiscal compact...
We're being sent the bill for the euro crisis again – this time by the IMF
First it was individual banks; then whole industries; then entire countries; now it's the world. Western leaders have reacted to the failure of each bailout by decreeing a bigger one. Unable to admit their mistake, slaves to the defunct economist who...
Interesting Economist debate concludes 'this house does not believe Britain should leave the EU'
The Economist have been hosting a debate this week on their website with the motion for debate: "This house believes that Britain should leave the EU". Throughout the week there have been guest contributions both for the motion (Tory MEP an...
EU brainwashing children?
Letter sent to the Editor of The Daily Express on 18th January 2012 The idea that giving teachers pencil cases and brochures, at their own request, is “brainwashing” by the EU (Express, 18 January) is nonsense. The notion that a video...
The European Union Act 2011: three key questions
By Mike Gordon, Lecturer in Law, Liverpool Law School, University of Liverpool This post originally appeared on the UK Constitutional Law Group Blog and is re-posted here with thanks. The European Union Act 2011 (EUA) is an unprecedented constituti...
Britain and German EU leadership
I rarely feel the need to attack a post on another blog but what I read this morning on Ideas on Europe, a blog hosted by UACES (the academic association for contemporary European studies) was just a...
‘Britain will never accept German leadership’
Why won’t the United Kingdom accept German leadership of the European Union? What will Britain do to prevent German primacy? What might the implications be? And how can Britain contribute to a stronger Europe?
The Express, the EU and plastic bags (cont.)
In May 2011, an Express front page headline claimed the EU had said 'ban shopping bags':The sub-head clarified that this was plastic bags, not all shopping bags. But either way the EU hadn't actually 'said' this. They had, however, launched a public...
Should Britain Secede?
The Economist is currently running an online debate on whether the state of Britain should secede from the EU. The following is my contribution—my “two cents worth” from across the pond.The real purpose of the E.U. is not economic, but politica...
From Movies to Reality: Is Britain still a Great Power?
These last couple weeks I have been watching numerous movies on British politics. Coincidence or calculations? Yesterday night, it was Tinker, Tailor, Sailor, Spy, the night before Page Eight (which by the way is one of my favorite spy movies), tonig...
What has the ECtHR done for the UK lately?
A detailed report, written by veteran Parliamentary legal researcher Robert Broardhurst, and commissioned by a group of backbench Conservative MPs including Chris Heaton-Harris MP and Andrea Leadsom MP, has called for action on the European Court of...
The West Shetland question
Exhibit A: the North Face of Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest mountain.Exhibit B: UK oil and gas production, Scotland’s biggest MacGuffin.Exhibit B is the rock...
Press Release – It is in UK’s interest for fiscal pact to be part of EU Treaty
The euro+ treaty should be incorporated into the EU treaties as soon as possible. Following Monday’s meeting of European Liberal leaders in London, BNE fully supports the aim for the new euro+ treaty to eventually be incorporated into the European...
What Europe's new diplomatic service can do for Britain
By Edward BurkeAs the influence of individual European countries vis-à-vis rising giants such as China declines, many look to the EU’s new diplomatic corps – the European External Action Service (EEAS) –– to augment their strength. But in 20...
Watson and Clegg in Effort to reengage Britain in Europe
Leading Government Ministers, Party Leaders and European Commissioners from Liberal Democratic parties across Europe are meeting in London today at the invitation of South West England and Gibraltar MEP Sir Graham Watson, in his role as president of...
Andrew Duff on Britain’s Future in Europe
Twelfth Night is usually the time I take down the Christmas cards, but last evening I went instead to Cambridge, to hear the East of England LibDem MEP Andrew Duff give his verdict on the situation regarding Britain’s relationship with the rest...
Eurotroll Cameron
UK prime minister David Cameron ”has promised to do "everything possible" to stop other EU states discussing the single market without the UK” (BBC News UK Politics). According to the Open Europe blog the EU institutions are ”all over the draf...
The Draft Euro Fiscal Pact: Pretty Bad News for Cameron...
As negotiations on the new European fiscal pact resume today, we have managed to get hold of a copy of the new draft prepared by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy's office, and it makes for interesting reading. First on the scene (at least...
Europe, not empire: Britain's foreign policy challenge | Linda Colley
Scandinavia is the model for a UK that can no longer rely on its imperial history, but must seek alliances in EuropeIn the next five to 10 years, Britain looks set to encounter something approaching a perfect storm both in regard to its international...
No “crippling new tax on Britain”
Letter sent to the Editor of The Daily Express on 5th January, 2012 Your front page claim that the EU will “hammer Britain with a crippling new tax” (5 Jan) is fantasy. First, as your own article says on page four, the UK has a veto on th...
LibDems Must Stand Firm on Europe
There have been a lot of disquieting rumours flying around the past few days that some LibDem parliamentarians and other senior figures in the Party are considering finding common ground with Conservative Euro-sceptics (or Europhobes, as they ought...
Why can't we be more like Switzerland? | Peter Preston
Wistful Tories look to Basel, and being the sort of nation that can define its own self-interest dailyBe careful what you wish for, even though the sceptics in Tory backrooms seem to have it all figured out. No euro, no zone, no ever greater union? N...
Why Britain should think about doing things the German way | Jonathan Glancey
The British economy is built on flimsy and unreliable foundations. We should be making more thingsFour years ago I attended the opening ceremony of BMW Welt in Munich. This sensational vortex of a building is where you go should you feel like a littl...
Britain and the eurozone: friends in need | Editorial
The UK's fortunes are tied to euroland, so when disaster arrives, Britain's economy and its banks will not escape lightlyNo. Non. Nein. It's an unpretty word however you say it. Yet the N-word has been bandied around a lot in the past couple of weeks...
Why the City of London is European | Jo Johnson
David Cameron must persuade the French and other EU members that London's financial centre is their asset tooNext month's Franco-British collôque will provide much-needed group therapy for a relationship in crisis. The easy part will be where UK del...
The EU faces its Dunkirk.
Reading the British eurosceptic media, it only dawned on me recently that they are against the EU primarily because they’ve never understood it. Just consider Britain’s unique position: a former global power that due to its geographic lo...
Cameron and co are deluded – it's cold on Europe's margins | Timothy Garton Ash
I fear my nightmare about England's direction may come true. In 10 years we'll beg the French (and Scots) to let us back inIf you see a fork in the road, take it! For 60 years, in its relations with Europe, Britain has been following Yogi Berra's adv...
Cameron and co are deluded – it's cold on Europe's margins | Timothy Garton Ash
I fear my nightmare about England's direction may come true. In 10 years we'll beg the French (and Scots) to let us back inIf you see a fork in the road, take it! For 60 years, in its relations with Europe, Britain has been following Yogi Berra's adv...
England's visceral Europhobia may break up the UK | David Marquand
The Tories' rage against the EU is rooted in an English identity crisis not shared by the Scots or the WelshThe crisis in Britain's relationship with continental Europe won't be resolved unless it is understood, and that is easier said than done. At...
Mandelson: “Vetoed treaty change posed no threat to UK”
Related posts: Ed’s Afghan visit vetoed: 8 in the morning – December 6th The Treaty of Lisbon clause which Eurosceptics should love Inspiring Mandelson says this will be the election of change The Tory MP who wants a referendum on Lisbon...
Britain and France: seasonal greetings | Editorial
So long as we are all in the same sinking boat, we would be wise to focus on rowing in the same directionThe political cartoonist of his time JS Gillray depicted William Pitt and Napoleon carving up the plum pudding of the globe (Pitt helps himself t...
The Express, the EU and...fridges
Following the bogus claim from the Express' Chief Political Commentator that 'every criticism' his paper has levelled at the EU has been 'justified', the Head of Media at the European Commission Representation in the UK has been forced to write to th...
Defiant UK Parliament praises Cameron and rebalances EU relationship
Yesterday the UK Parliament (House of Commons) adopted, by 278 votes to 200 (all Liberal Democrat MPs abstaining), the following motion: That this House commends the Prime Minister on his refusal at the European Council to sign up to a Treaty without...
Why are British politicians so bad at politics?
What is it about Britain, when it sits down to negotiate with the rest of Europe? Britain, for example, has its own national interests, but in that regard is no more different that any of the other 27 members of the union. So why is it that Britain e...
British Rebate in Jeopardy thanks to David Cameron
Joseph Daul, leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), has just told the European Parliament that the rebate Britain receives from the EU must be put into question following David Cameron’s veto last week. David Cameron has certainly...
A big, open, comprehensive offer to Nick Clegg
Regular LabourList readers will know that I’m not a fan of the Liberal Democrats. I’ve rarely disguised my contempt for their hypocrisy, gall or ability to argue two opposing points at the same time. They’re currently providing cove...
Barroso's failed attempt to single out Cameron
There seems to be some continuing confusion over David Cameron’s demands at last week’s EU summit, specifically in reference to their impact on the 'integrity' of the single market. Unfortunately, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso...
How (not) to negotiate (pt.1)
As part of my module on Negotiating Politics, we had a discussion yesterday about last week’s European Council in Brussels, as a real-world example of what they study in the classroom. In all the discussion about the UK and its role (about wh...
Report from Sir Graham Watson MEP on the December 2011 European Council
The European Council meeting (heads of state and government summit) of 8-9 December 2011 ended in agreement by 23 member states to press ahead with a new treaty to forge a closer economic and fiscal union. Two other member states said they would join...
EU in Britain: When David comes marching home again... (Updated)
Before discussing if the decisions of the European summit were enough in the face of increasing headwinds, I published one more assessment of the EU politics of the UK government led by Cavid Cameron. Having read the prime minister's statement, I won...
Politics leaves the EU
Britain standing outside Europe is a failure for the EU more than it is for Britain, says Jason Walsh. The British government has undoubtedly taken a tentative step away from the EU, but in doing so it has accidentally stood up for democracy &ndash...
A historic summit
What a mess. Last week’s meeting will surely go down in the annals of recent EU summitry as the one where the worst outcome was achieved. For that reason alone, it could be given the ‘historic’ label that leaders are so keen to bandy about. I...
In Defence Of David Cameron
Since the decision by David Cameron at last week’s summit to have no part in a new treaty, the media has been full of opinions about whether it was a good or bad thing. I find it hard to believe that anyone knows the real impact or cost, and it...
Cameron must persist with EU reform strategy
We've got a piece in City AM today, assessing what the EU summit conclusions really mean for the UK financial services sector. Despite much of the noise in the media not all that much has changed. That said it is vital that Cameron pushes forward wit...
Cameron’s weakness and the British media
Imagine for a moment that ahead of November 30th, 80+ Labour MPs had demanded that Miliband – perhaps against his own personal judgement – should come out forcefully in favour of the strike. Imagine the outcry from the press. “Weak...
8-9 December 2011: a Decisive Turn in European Democracy
News Roundup on the 8- 9 December 2011 European Council Summit The Economist: Bagehot and Charlemagne, BBC News, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Le Monde, El Pais, Der Spiegel, Il Corriere della Sera...
‘More’ and ‘Less’ Europe in the Summit Aftermath (with that ‘less’ being Britain?)
Prof. Peter Lindseth Following last week’s dramatic events at the European summit, here is the first of a series of posts in reaction to the summit’s outcome. In the aftermath of last week’s potentially fateful European summit in Brusse...
Where have the euro-realists gone?
Pro-europeanism was not defeated on Friday. It was defeated long ago. No, it was euro-realism that lost on Friday – perhaps for the first time but not the last. Nor was a two-speed Europe created. There has long been a multi-speed Europe. Schengen...
The European summit outcome: Here’s what you could have had
Amid all the argument and misinformation flying round about the agreement and disagreement at the European summit, here is a summary of what was actually at stake. The member states of the eurozone wanted a new treaty to establish closer integration...
Post-Veto Politics
Britain has lost influence and friends in the EU due to the veto, but it doesn't mean that the UK won't get another chance to sit around the negotiating table because the new fiscal compact is far from a done deal.Isolated BritainFirst of all, how Br...
EU: Economic crisis, Tory priorities and euro bully-boys (Updated)
Here is a thoughtful tweet from @Nosemonkey (J Clive Matthews) in London: Question: Is there a single foreign leader that respects Cameron? Just wondering if the UK has any friends left anywhere...To the warlike atmosphere created by campaigning anti...
EU: goals, own goals and the landscape after battle.
The EU is in a mess. Two governments have recently been deposed, Italy and Greece. Jobs are disappearing and people are in trouble. A couple of smaller states have experienced the IMF treatment, Latvia and Hungary. Spain, Ireland and Portugal are all...
Howe did Cameron do in Europe?
Badly, I fear. He has shown that Britain is a marginal power, one not to be listened to or trusted by our European neighbours. Britain is now probably going to be locked out of discussions on Fiscal Union within the Eurozone… probably the only...
Honeyball’s Weekly Round-Up
What a week it’s been for UK relations in Brussels. Media coverage was dominated by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron’s, failure to reach an agreement and deliver a deal that would have ensured that the UK remained at the … Continue...
Can Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband now come together on Europe? | Jackie Ashley
The Lib Dems' position is truly bleak – they are the writhing hostages of Tory Europhobia. But Labour can offer a way forward"I agree with Nick" – it's a long time since the Liberal Democrat leader has heard those heart-warming words, but Ed Mili...
Fog in Cameron. Britain cut off from Europe | Christine Ockrent
Britain and Europe can achieve so much together. That's why David Cameron's foolishness saddens continentals like meMy favourite English joke about fog in the Channel isolating the continent does not sound so funny any more. Since the last Brussels s...
LISTEN: Coalition cracks showing over UK position on EU treaty
I joined Radio New Zealand's Morning Report to discuss divisions in the coalition government following David Cameron's dramatic veto in Brussels last week. Listen here. Olly Barratt - UK correspondent...
Gary Barker on David Cameron's EU treaty veto – cartoon
PM's decision cuts Britain adrift in Europe, with EU leaders poised to line up 26-1 in support of Franco-German blueprintGary Barker...
Sarkozy to profit most from Cameron blunder
Sarkozy is about to realize De Gaulle’s dream rebooted : an intergovernmental Europe, without Britain. The cherry on the cake is the US backing to this new Europe much to the detriment of the UK-US special relationship. Though the media has lo...
EU: I'm ”privately furious” at UK Coalition
We know that politics make strange bedfellows, but it becomes worrying when they reside in the same head. At the European Council UK prime minister David Cameron struck at the root of decades of British EEC and EU involvement, by wanting to scrap th...
David Cameron and EU Single Market
We know that politics make strange bedfellows, but it becomes worrying when they reside in the same head. In March 2011, just ahead of the spring summit, nine national political leaders sent a joint letter on European growth to the president of the E...
Now it's three-speed Europe. And we're left on the hard shoulder | Andrew Rawnsley
This abject defeat for British diplomacy is the more striking because Mr Cameron's demands were quite modestVeto is a powerful word. It sounds presidential. It smacks of decisiveness. It rings with defiance. So in every interview he has given since t...
Cameron has just destroyed the City
While Europe’s house is on fire, the British Prime Minister tried to loot some of the family silver and sneak out through the back door. The very fact that he expected to get away with it shows that he is no Margaret Thatcher. Meanwhile the Bri...
