You will recall that last year PACT European Affairs published its booklet ‘Better Regulation: 10 graphs to help you understand’, providing a useful visual overview and analysis of the Commission’s Better Regulation package and what it means for EU public …
Where is the European Parliament heading?
As everyone knows, the European Parliament is not a real Parliament. It is a co-legislator rather than a legislator, and does not possess the power of legislative initiative, which belongs to the Commission. This anomaly, which needs to be corrected …
Brexit: a WTO issue first and foremost
100 days on from the fateful UK referendum, the only thing agreed on is the huge complexity of Brexit. This justifies the wait-and-see approach of the UK government which, by cataloguing the many problems that need to be resolved, is …
Barnier and Brexit – Bad mood before the holidays
Without doubt, the Commission President is embarrassing – embarrassing when he comments, embarrassing when he doesn’t take decisions, and even embarrassing when he does. Appointing Michel Barnier as chief Brexit negotiator on behalf of the Commission comes squarely under this …
EU crisis: Authority and values to restore Europeans’ desire to live together
The reaction of Jean-Claude Juncker to the Nice attacks was interesting. In Le Soir, he stated: “We have to ask ourselves when this is going to stop?” For months, I have been saying over and over again that the President of …
Brexit: the urgent need for a Plan B
Brexit, rightly seen as inadvisable, will turn out to be impossible both technically and politically. Far from destroying the EU, Brexit is a chance to re-launch it by creating a two-circle community: a circle based on Eurozone integration and a …
Much is possible without Treaty reform – first of all, a change in culture!
Nicholas Sarkozy, so sure of himself, is promising a new Treaty before the end of the year, using a very Sarkozyite method of imposing from on high a reform of the EU outlined very generally. Such an approach is doomed …
The European Union: 20 years in the wrong direction
Brexit on 23 June, glyphosate on 24 June… On issues big and small, the EU needs to re-build itself from top to bottom 20 years ago I published “L’Europe à contresens”. This small book made a big impact in the …
Jo Cox’s last article – about the need to remain in Europe
“With many voters still making up their minds about a decision that will shape the future of our country, Oxford University’s Migration Observatory offered a stark warning that despite offering the world the Leave campaign cannot guarantee what would happen …
In the absence of many facts about the EU Referendum, here are my own:
The easy question first: If we weren’t already in the EU, would you vote to join? We can actually ignore the majority of arguments put forward by the 2 sides in this debate. Democracy is the most precious commodity any …