New Year 2018 issue: references, notes and
quotes.
These are best read alongside supporting
material in the notes for the Oct 2017 issue.
Index
Negotiations: progress and prospects
May's Florence speech and 2017 Conservative
Manifesto
Lamy, 5-6 years to negotiate a comprehensive EU-UK
Free Trade Agreement
GENERIC
INFORMATION, LEGISLATION, REPORTS
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/eu-referendum/how-will-brexit-work
https://secondreading.parliament.uk/blog/brexit-blog/brexit-an-overview/
https://secondreading.parliament.uk/blog/brexit-blog/what-can-research-tell-us-about-brexit/
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/article-50-and-negotiations-with-the-eu
'Exit
Day' - EU withdrawal bill
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8184/CBP-8184.pdf
https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-8184
Brexit
reading list: legal and constitutional issues : reading list
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7702/CBP-7702.pdf
Brexit
debates since June 2016
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8131/CBP-8131.pdf
December
UK-EU Agreement
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8183/CBP-8183.pdf
This paper looks at the path towards 'sufficient
progress' in the first phase of Brexit negotiations and the Joint Report agreed
by the UK Government and the EU.
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8183/CBP-8183.pdf
(p10)
EP resolved...
The
EP also reiterated an earlier proposal that an EU-UK association agreement
“with a robust and independent dispute resolution mechanism” could provide “an
appropriate framework for the future relationship”.
...safeguarding
EU agreements with third countries and organisations, including the EEA Agreement;
(p11)
[May]
concluded that it was
A
fair settlement for the British taxpayer, who will soon see significant savings
compared with remaining in the European Union. It means we will be able to use
that money to invest in our priorities at home, such as housing, schools and
the NHS, and it means the days of paying vast sums to the European Union every
year are coming to an end.
...(p12)
while
the Joint Report is not legally binding under the terms of the Article 50 TEU
or under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties 1969, the general
principle of pacta sunt servanda in international law would require the UK to
follow good faith principles in its future dealings with the EU, as it entered
the Article 50 negotiations in good faith (which is also a general principle of
law recognised in EU law).
(p17/18)
Citizen rights - stay
The
Withdrawal Agreement will specify procedural safeguards and rights of appeal,
which will be as per the Citizens' Directive.
...In
line with proposals previously outlined by the UK Government, grounds for
exclusion from status based on criminal conduct before the specified date will
reflect the provisions in the Directive, but grounds for exclusion based on
conduct after the cut-off date will reflect national law (which, in the UK
context, is more punitive).
(p18)
The
UK Government has indicated that it does not intend to apply the Directive's
comprehensive sickness insurance requirement (which applies to self-sufficient
people and students) but, unless this commitment is put into the Withdrawal
Agreement, it will not be legally binding.
(p20/p21)
The
Bill will provide that the citizens’ rights provisions will prevail over other
incompatible legislation, unless the Act is expressly repealed by Parliament.
...The
requirement for UK courts to have “due regard” to CJEU decisions post-Brexit
goes further than the provisions in the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (which
gives UK courts the option to take account of CJEU case law post-Brexit where
they consider it appropriate to do so).
(p43,
vassal status?)
Michel
Barnier may now negotiate a transition period covering the whole of the EU
acquis, while the UK, as a third country, will no longer participate in or
nominate or elect members of the EU institutions;
•
The EU considers that the UK will “continue to participate in the Customs Union
and the Single Market (with all four freedoms) during the transition”; “all
existing Union regulatory, budgetary, supervisory, judiciary and enforcement
instruments and structures will also apply, including the competence of the
Court of Justice of the European Union”, and the UK “will have to continue to
comply with EU trade policy, to apply EU customs tariff and collect EU customs
duties, and to ensure all EU checks are being performed on the border vis-à-vis
other third countries.”
(p44)
The
Treasury Committee has highlighted concerns that a ‘standstill’ transitional
arrangement might exceed the EU’s
competence under Article 50, such that it could not be negotiated as part
of the Withdrawal Agreement
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmtreasy/473/473.pdf
...It
is not clear how far the UK could go in negotiating future trade deals during
the transition.
UK-EU
Joint Report
Press
release
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-5342_en.htm
Supplementary
draft negotiating directives,
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/commissions_recommendation_20-12-2017.pdf (just formalities)
14.
In line with the European Council guidelines of 29 April 2017, it is also
recalled that as from the date of its withdrawal from the Union the United
Kingdom will no longer benefit from the agreements concluded by the Union, or
by Member States acting on its behalf, or by the Union and its Member States
acting jointly. Where it is in the interest of the Union, the Union may
consider whether and how arrangements can be agreed that would maintain the
effects of the agreements as regards the United Kingdom during the transition
period; the United Kingdom should however no longer participate in any bodies
set up by those agreements.
15.
In line with the European Council guidelines of 15 December 2017, any
transitional arrangements require the United Kingdom's continued participation
in the Customs Union and the Single Market (with all four freedoms) during the
transition. The United Kingdom should take all necessary measures to preserve
the integrity of the Single Market and of the Customs Union. The United Kingdom
should continue to comply with the Union trade policy. It should also in
particular ensure that its customs authorities continue to act in accordance
with the mission of EU customs authorities including by collecting Common
Customs Tariff duties and by performing all checks required under Union law at
the border vis-à-vis other third countries.
20.
fishing opportunities during the transition period.
NB There may be errors in
the guidelines as para 12. refers to Lisbon Treaty Protocol 21, Article 4a
- there is none; it should be Protocol 22!
European
Council (Art 50) guidelines of 29 April 2017
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2017/04/29/euco-brexit-guidelines/
Gavin
Barwell reassured Remainers
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8183/CBP-8183.pdf (p13)
Theresa
May’s Chief of Staff, Gavin Barwell, tweeted that remainers should be “reassured”.
Lord
Prior on the “softest of soft Brexit”.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4055637/brexit-soft-conservative-hard-eu/
Professor
Hussein Kassim, research leader at UKIACE - professor of politics at University
of East Anglia
Negotiating
Brexit: what do the UK’s negotiating partners want?
http://ukandeu.ac.uk/research-papers/negotiating-brexit-what-do-the-uks-negotiating-partners-want/
http://ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Negotiating-Brexit-book-NEW.pdf
http://ukandeu.ac.uk/into-phase-ii-how-the-eu27-see-the-outcome-of-the-december-european-council/
Dashwood
reservations on timescale
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmtreasy/473/473.pdf
Joe
Egerton, Conservative Group for Europe, Keeping the Bridges Open, on transition
http://www.conservativegroupforeurope.org.uk/keeping-the-bridges-open/
Sir
Mike Rake on transition
https://www.politico.eu/article/faq-brexit-phase-two-what-happens-next/
The
“joint report” agreed by May and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker last
week calls for “an agreement as early as possible in 2018 on transitional
arrangements.”
…
Barnier
has said he believes striking a full trade deal is impossible by the U.K.’s
exit date of March 2019. According to him, only a “political declaration” on
the framework for future trade would be feasible.
…
That’s
in stark contrast to Brexit Secretary David Davis, who believes that
negotiating a “substantive trade deal” is possible in the time available.
...
Bear
in mind, however, that Brussels has also floated the idea that the U.K. could
temporarily become a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) while
both sides transition into their future relationship.
EU
Referendum blog: ‘Impact Assessments’
Impact
analyses of vital trading rights that would be lost on leaving the Single
Market
http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=86556
https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/finding-sensible-brexit
Dr
Robin Niblett CMG, Director, Chatham House
A
‘soft’ Brexit might be a good economic outcome for the UK, but it is not
politically viable. Instead, a ‘sensible’ Brexit, which retains the best
possible levels of access to the EU’s single market but secures the return of
sovereign rights, is the way forward.
...
If
UK and EU27 regulatory approaches do diverge in the future, the EU could also
find itself unable to block British imports without becoming enmeshed in a
never-ending series of regulatory challenges and court cases in whatever
dispute settlement forums the two sides establish. The EU has demanded a
fundamental change to its regulatory arrangements with the Swiss for precisely
this reason. Being in constant litigation with a major economic power such as
the UK would be an even less palatable prospect.
…
The
EU27 might therefore prefer to negotiate a ‘Canada plus’ agreement, i.e.
including a greater number of service and agricultural sectors and an expanded
set of regulatory mutual recognition procedures, but within the framework of a
more traditional trade agreement. This might also be what other trade partners
of the EU demand for the UK.
...
But
the most politically damaging outcome for the future of UK–EU relations would
be a soft Brexit in which the UK remains tied into the rules of the single
market and customs union without a full say in the rule-making
....
delivering
a sensible if costly Brexit is feasible.”
'Canada
structuring to prevent a Swiss trap' - AND 'UK knows what it wants'
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-must-name-its-price-for-post-brexit-trade/
Britain,
in other words, knows what it wants. It just doesn’t yet know if it can afford
it.
Should
the price in terms of regulatory alignment with the EU be too steep, U.K.
officials say the government will have to either narrow the scope of the
agreement (removing chapters) or make it more shallow (providing less access). Either
way, it is for the EU to move next
...
Under
the plan envisaged by the U.K., a free-trade deal will set out the sectors of
the economy where each side agrees to cooperate on regulation and standards in
order to achieve greater access to each other’s markets than would ordinarily
be the case under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
European
Council President Donald Tusk
http://www.cityam.com/262377/prime-minister-theresa-may-says-free-movement-could-green
Tusk
has also said EU leaders won't pursue a punitive approach as "Brexit in
itself is already punitive enough".
Barnier
ambitions
EU
Observer news service
EU
Observer's 2017 Europe in Review Magazine. (PDF, 20MB)
“Barnier
- UK's best friend in Brussels today”,
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/59636303/europe-in-review-2017
Claims
he’s done a good job of managing the European Parliament, and is gently pushing
for a softer approach in EU, toning down France & Germany
Conversely…
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/897681/German-support-Brexit-bespoke-trade-deal-Barnier-Davis-May
A
Brexiteer MEP has said the evidence is now clear that Britain is leading the
way in Brexit negotiations as talks move onto the future trading relationship.
Jonathan Arnott, a Ukip MEP, cited the German Foreign Minister's recent remarks
as proof that Britain had beat Michel Barnier in setting the Brexit agenda.
The
German minister Sigmar Gabriel said a "smart" bespoke deal between
the UK and the EU could serve as a model for ties with other nations. Mr
Gabriel's remarks put him at odds with comments from the EU's Brexit negotiator
Michel Barnier, who previously said a bespoke deal for Britain was off the
table.
EU
disunity on trade foreseen
Ability
to negotiate trade deals
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8183/CBP-8183.pdf
...It
is not clear how far the UK could go in negotiating future trade deals during
the transition.
http://brexitcentral.com/uk-eu-deal-say-good-britain/
…a
potential olive branch from EU officials later in the day that the UK could be
granted formal approval to negotiate trade deals with other countries during
the transitional period.
http://ec.europa.eu/archives/lisbon_treaty/full_text/index_en.htm
Trade
(Common Commercial Policy) an exclusive EU competence, but member states can
act when empowered (TFEU Articles 2, 3)
EU
climbdown
Spain
on Gibraltar
Spain’s
Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis said, “…what I don’t want to do is jeopardise
an EU-UK agreement by subjecting it to a need to alter Gibraltar’s status at
the same time. I won’t make an agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom
conditional on recovering sovereignty over Gibraltar.”
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8183/CBP-8183.pdf (p6)
The
UK will not pay for the relocation of the two London-based EU agencies.
http://brexitcentral.com/uk-eu-deal-say-good-britain/
The
UK has largely won out in its battle over security, with the agreement allowing
both sides to conduct systematic criminality and security checks on EU citizens
applying for settled status, against the EU’s original demands
The
UK scored a victory on healthcare, with the EU agreeing that UK citizens living
in the EU will not lose access to the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
scheme and other existing schemes for healthcare reimbursement
…
The
UK has also secured significant compromises over family reunion rights
…
The
EU’s demand for indefinite ECJ jurisdiction over EU citizens in the UK was
clearly unacceptable...Instead, the two sides have reached a compromise…
Sun,
Mail, Express on May’s ‘breakthrough’
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-express/20171209/281479276753148
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-mail/20171209/281479276752982
May’s
boost in opinion polls
Theresa
May’s tough Brexit talk gives Tories 16-point lead in polls
PREM-PIRE
STRIKES BACK The Force is with Theresa May in our big Brexit poll as 61 per
cent want her to stay at No10 — and her rating’s up against Jeremy Corbyn
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5156114/theresa-may-brexit-poll-support-conservative-party/
Most
people, including Remainers, think she made good progress in the first round of
talks.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/15/happens-next-brexit-talks/
Minutes
later Mr Juncker and Mrs May appear together at a press conference to herald
the deal, with the PM declaring it “a hard-won agreement in all our interests”.
Pieter
Cleppe on impasse (is May the difficult party?)
https://capx.co/who-is-really-to-blame-for-the-brexit-deadlock/
More
fundamentally, there is no reason to despair. There was always going to be
walkouts and drama during these negotiations and, after all, despite his rather
gloomy tone, Barnier also said that after the Florence speech, there was “new
momentum” in the talks. The Financial Times notes that despite the
“standstill”, the EU side is actually “considering beginning work between the
EU27 to “scope” transition terms — or start preparing their positions on the
issue — before approving talks in December or later”. Slowly, the doubtful
partner in these negotiations is turning out to be the EU.
…
When
it comes to citizens, the EU is refusing to grant UK citizens free movement
within the EU – despite asking the status quo for EU citizens in the UK,
something that Britain is happy to grant, apart from some very specific rights
related to family reunification. The EU is also still sticking to its odd
demand for the UK to accept ECJ rule despite the fact it doesn’t have a judge
in the ECJ, although some compromise on that is getting nearer, according to
David Davis.
Interestingly,
senior diplomats apparently don’t see the Irish question, which is the third
element related to the “divorce stage”, as an obstacle to making “sufficient
progress”. When it comes to the transitional period, the UK probably has provided
more clarity than the EU by now on what it wants.
https://capx.co/who-is-really-to-blame-for-the-brexit-deadlock/
…apparently
Theresa May had been “taking dictation” from the EU for her Florence speech, so
it could make sense that he promised May something in return. That would then
not be a concession to start “trade talks” but merely “exploratory trade
talks”.
Text
of May’s speech in Florence, 22.09.17
2017
Conservative manifesto - commitments to be broken?
https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto
https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/manifesto2017/Manifesto2017.pdf
(page
A6, physical page ref.)
We
need to deliver a smooth and orderly departure from the European Union and
forge a deep and special partnership with our friends and allies across Europe.
(A30)
The
best possible deal for Britain as we leave the European Union delivered by a
smooth, orderly Brexit.
(A36)
…we
will enter the negotiations in a spirit of sincere cooperation and committed to
getting the best deal for Britain. We will make sure we have certainty and
clarity over our future, control of our
own laws,
....
We
will maintain the Common Travel Area and maintain as frictionless a border as
possible for people, goods and services between Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland
...
As
we leave the European Union, we will no longer be members of the single market
or customs union but we will seek a deep and special partnership including a
comprehensive free trade and customs agreement.
...
Our
laws will be made in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, and interpreted by
judges across the United Kingdom, not in
Luxembourg.
...
(Once
EU law has been converted into domestic law, parliament will be able to pass
legislation to amend, repeal or improve
any piece of EU law it chooses, as will the devolved legislatures, where
they have the power to do so.)
TEU
‘Article 7’ rules on punishment for serious breaches of EU law
http://ec.europa.eu/archives/lisbon_treaty/full_text/index_en.htm
Charles
Grant of CER for the European Parliament, on how to get a better deal
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2017/583130/IPOL_IDA(2017)583130_EN.pdf
"It
is true that the EU’s FTAs with other countries include arbitration mechanisms
that do not
involve
the ECJ….
James
Arnell on European Courts
My
personal view is that allowing a limited role for the ECJ in these areas should
be considered, and that this would make the resolution of some of these
cross-border issues easier in the timeframe available. While, technically, this
assumes a deal, I think we would be pushing at an open door, and that the EU
would see the acceptance of ECJ jurisdiction as a major concession.
...
The
UK is a member of the ECAA, which is policed by the ECJ. If we leave the ECAA,
our airlines will need to do some contortions to allow them to continue to
operate between the UK and the EU, but it looks to be manageable.
(e.g.) The Principle of Sincere Cooperation in EEA Law
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-45189-3_4
The
principle of “sincere cooperation” is stated in the EEA Agreement in the same
terms as in the Treaty on the European Union, but the principle has developed
in the case law of the EFTA Court so as to be even more important than in the
EU. This is because the principle has been used to resolve some important
ambiguities in the EEA Agreement
Similarly,
“good faith” is prescribed by the Vienna Convention on wider international
treaties
http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/1_1_1969.pdf
“Sincere
cooperation” is also mentioned in the 2017 Conservative manifesto.
UN
Charter and Resolutions
http://legal.un.org/avl/ha/dpilfrcscun/dpilfrcscun.html
UN
Resolution 2625 aka the 1970 UN "Declaration on Principles of
International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in
Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations" says
“No
State may use or encourage the use of economic, political or other types or
measures to coerce another State in
order to obtain from it the subordination of the exercise of its sovereign
rights or to secure from it advantages of any kind.”
It
is accepted as a valid lens for interpreting the UN Charter in international
law.
(NB
UN sanctions are obviously a separate issue concerning very different cases,
such as aggressor states.)
UN
Charter
Article
1.2 [The Purposes of the United Nations
are:] To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the
principle of equal rights and self-determination
of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal
peace;
Article
2.2 All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits
resulting from membership, shall fulfil in
good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present
Charter.
2.4
All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or
use of force against the territorial
integrity or political independence of
any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the
United Nations.
Article
103 In the event of a conflict between the obligations of the Members of the
United Nations under the present Charter and their obligations under any other
international agreement, their
obligations under the present Charter
shall prevail.
http://www.politico.eu/article/britain-10-year-interim-zero-for-zero-trade-deal-brexit/
Under
a little-known WTO clause, the U.K. and Brussels would be allowed a “reasonable
length of time” after Brexit to agree a free-trade deal before trade law would
force both sides to impose the same tariffs on each other as they do on
everybody else
Pascal
Lamy on WTO waiver
https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/pascal-lamy-way-forward-after-brexit
Q:
What about the role of the World Trade Organization? You were director-general
for eight years, you know it very well. Do you think that if the British were
forced to fall back on just WTO rules, is that easily done?
A:
I think it can be easily done, provided there is a bit of goodwill on all
sides. WTO lawyers can be reasonably pragmatic and if we agree that the main
thing is that trade should be hampered as little as possible, I think that’s
not the most complex problem we’ll have to solve. You just have to know that
there
is a level of trade openness today, which is the [EU] internal market.
http://www.freetradeagreements.co.uk/projects/pascal-lamy/
On
16 March 2017, I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by former head of
the World Trade Organization and former European Commissioner for Trade, Pascal
Lamy, at the Institute for Government.
One
of the key points discussed by Mr Lamy concerned the fact that any agreement
other than remaining in the single market would be costly. Once the UK leaves
the EU, compliance with regulations and customs procedures will lead to
increased costs for both sides.
Mr
Lamy also offered his cockpit view on the complexity of negotiating a
post-Brexit scenario, dividing the issues into three groups:
1)
The ‘relatively straightforward’ category included establishing an EU-UK Free
Trade Agreement on goods and the division of the WTO schedules and quotas.
2)
Environmental provisions, public procurement and trade defence actions such as
anti-dumping were in the ‘fairly complex’ category.
3)
Finally, Mr Lamy listed standards (technical, safety and security) and their
mutual recognition and equivalence together with indirect and direct taxation
and IP rights as the most complicated issues to be negotiated over the next
couple of years.
You
can watch a recording of the event here.
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/events/pascal-lamy-brexit-trade-and-wto
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/blog/pascal-lamy-brexit-trade-deal-not-possible-two-years
The real issue is that the EU-UK
negotiations will involve “100 small steps” and “some of these steps can be
easy, but many of them are very complex and complexity in negotiations means
time”. Lamy categorises the issues for an EU-UK FTA into the “relatively
simple”, “complex” and the “really complex”:
|
Relatively simple |
Complex |
Really complex |
|
Goods and tariffs |
Trade defence |
Technical standards |
|
Establishing the UK in the WTO |
Public procurement |
Services |
|
Maintaining
existing EU FTAs |
Climate change and environment
policy |
Taxes |
|
Fisheries |
Competition law and its
enforcement |
Intellectual property (IP)
protection |
|
Erasmus programme |
EU research and innovation |
Euratom |
Nick Clegg book on ‘How to stop Brexit’
http://brexitbooks.com/2017/11/01/review-nick-clegg-stop-brexit/
Sir
Vince Cable MP
Article
50’ notice to leave is reversible?
Can
Brexit Be Stopped under EU Law?
https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/2017/10/10/cormac-mac-amhlaigh-can-brexit-be-stopped-under-eu-law/
Robert
Craig, LSE Law School and Durham Law School
All
Party Parliamentary Group on EU Relations
http://www.eurelations.uk/about
http://www.eurelations.uk/secretariat
http://brexitcentral.com/remainers-newfound-love-parliamentary-sovereignty-hypocrisy-finest/
Evening
Standard on Michel Barnier
Martin
Howe QC on Grieve’s ‘meaningful vote’ amendment, on civil servant drafting
http://brexitcentral.com/meaningful-vote-exit-date-amendments-really/
Susan
Elan Jones MP’s call for a second referendum
http://brexitcentral.com/23-mps-voted-second-referendum/
Lucy
Harris, the Independent opposing a
second referendum
Free movement after Brexit: Policy Options, J.Portes, UK In
A Changing Europe
http://ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Free-movement-after-Brexit-policy-options.pdf
http://ukandeu.ac.uk/research-papers/free-movement-after-brexit-policy-options/
It
concludes that such modifications are practical and feasible; they would
preserve the principle that EEA citizens could move to the UK to look for and
take up work, while giving the UK public greater assurance that migration from
the rest of the EEA was monitored and, where appropriate, controlled. In
particular, the introduction of a “Swiss-style” system of temporary and
targeted region and/or occupation specific controls on the employment of new
EEA migrants would be feasible
Welfare
tourism and the NHS
Dr
Savvas Savouri, chief economist and partner at Toscafund Asset Management
http://www.cityam.com/278116/forget-fake-news-uks-economic-prospects-look-bright
https://www.politico.eu/article/the-germans-are-coming-united-states-of-europe-martin-schulz/
If
his call for a U.S. of E weren’t enough of a jaw dropper, Schulz added that any
country that refused to jump on board by 2025 should be kicked out of the EU
altogether.
“Schulz
is alienating those countries in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia that are
opposed to closer integration and that want to preserve the role of national
governments,” said Lüder Gerken, head of Centrum für Europäische Politik, a
Freiburg-based think tank.
Mr
Blair's Institute for Global Change said populism could become the "new
normal" in Europe and "transform public policy in radical ways".
Research
found the share of the vote taken by populist parties has almost trebled since
2000, rising from 8.5 percent to 24.1 percent.
...
In
Italy, the institute's dossier says, the Eurosceptic Five Star Movement is
likely to "perform very well in the March 2018 elections".
The
party, which has hinted at holding a referendum on Italy's Eurozone membership,
is soaring in popularity according to opinion polls.
The
document also admits Hungary and Poland's governments, which have both been
locked in furious disputes with the EU, "are as popular as ever".
http://www.thecommentator.com/article/6704/eu_propaganda_and_a_frightening_roadmap_to_federalism
The
plans outlined in the report, innocuously titled ‘Reaching Out to EU Citizens:
A New Opportunity’, detail an Orwellian-scaled propaganda project and a roadmap
towards a fully federalised European Union.
The
dossier, written by Luc Van den Brande -- Special Adviser to the President of
the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker -- aims to provide solutions to
safeguard their fading federalist fantasies.
...
it is “necessary to mobilise these young adults in support of the European
process”. Identifying the older generation’s natural inclination towards the
nation state as an obstacle, the report takes a longer-term view, and calls for
a radical new approach, aimed at the young.
The
most shocking feature of the report hints that children as young as four should
undergo a centrally planned ‘European’ education. It advises that children and
adolescents should be continually taught this programme throughout their entire
time within the education system.
Dr.
Alan Sked masterpiece on university culture
http://ukandeu.ac.uk/brexit-and-universities/
Niccolo Machiavelli quotes
http://www.azquotes.com/author/9242-Niccolo_Machiavelli/tag/change
“There
is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more
uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new
order of things.”
“The
reformer has enemies in all who profit by the old order,
and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order”.
“It
should be borne in mind that there is nothing more difficult to arrange, more
doubtful of success, and more dangerous to carry through than initiating
changes. The innovator makes enemies of all those who prospered under the old
order, and only lukewarm support is forthcoming from those who would prosper
under the new.”
This
page updated: 6 Jan 2018