Ten years after the announcement of the referendum on British membership of the EU, the debate about the EU is returning to Westminster. While mainstream political parties argue that Brexit is a reality, citizens and businesses increasingly feel betrayed. So, what to do about the EU? ‘Eurowhiteness’ The book ‘Eurowhiteness’ [...]
Democratic backsliding has become such a defining trend in global politics over the past decades that the democratisation of the European Union has gone largely unnoticed.[1] After the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, however, the EU has been advancing its transition from a [...]
From 'Unidentified Political Object' to European Democracy Essay on the Unforeseen Democratization of the European Union A Federal Trust Essay by Jaap Hoeksma September 2022 This essay aims to draw attention to the far-reaching implications of the recent jurisprudence of the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) concerning the democratic [...]
The verdicts of the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) in the cases of Poland and Hungary concerning the rule of law, which have been delivered on 16 February, are not only consequential for the functioning of the EU but also shed new light on the relation between the UK and [...]
Against all odds, the Conference on the Future of Europe has shown that it is quite possible for the EU to function as a European democracy of states and citizens. In the process the European Union has overcome its long-standing stalemate in the debate about the end goal of the [...]
In all its atrocity, the Russian invasion of Ukraine may serve to recall that the democratisation of Europe is both a momentous achievement and an ongoing challenge. The democratisation of Europe, which started in the middle of the 20th century in reaction to the atrocities of the Second World War, [...]
The war, in which the Ukrainian army and citizens are defending the sovereignty of their country against foreign aggression, is about values. The values of human dignity, respect for life, democracy and the rule of law are under attack from a superpower, which is still thinking in geopolitical terms of [...]
During the last meeting of the European Council, which she attended, Angela Merkel raised the perennial question as to what the European Union is. Reflecting on the debate in the Council about the objections of some member states against the introduction of the conditionality mechanism, she asked whether we are [...]
The Treaty of Lisbon sheds fresh light on the purposes of EU citizenship education. The hallmark of the 2007 Lisbon Treaty is that it construes the EU as a dual democracy. The EU is not merely a Union of democratic States, but also functions as a democracy of its own.[1] [...]
From Unidentified Political Object to European Democracy Thirty years after the foundation of the European Union by virtue of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty the nature of the Union has been established at last. At the time of its creation as successor of the European Communities the EU used to be [...]
