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 [...]
All the evidence - from shrinking trade, to relative economic performance, to the Northern Ireland protocol, to the rotting queues at Dover - indicate that Brexit has failed. It has not only been the disaster that Remainers warned, but has also failed to achieve the wild outcomes promised by the [...]
This article was first published by Global Policy Institute (London). Despite the apparent acceptance at international level of several linked, though in some cases contradictory, norms, namely the (civic) nation-state sovereignty, the territorial integrity of nations-states, unitary and federal governance structures, and the right of self-determination, these norms are frequently [...]
This is an updated version of an article which first appeared on the website of the Institute of Welsh Affairs on 29th March 2022. With Nicola Sturgeon having recently addressed the Scottish Parliament about her plans for a second independence referendum, and the Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, established by the Welsh [...]
Boris Johnson has resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, though at the time of writing (14 July 2022) he has not relinquished office. His defiance in his resignation oration at the podium outside No 10 and, the day before, in the House of Commons provides clear evidence of [...]
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 [...]
by Glyndwr Cennydd Jones In recent years, the national borders extant within these isles have been reaffirmed through Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. Further, the trend for significant divergence in policy stances across the various parliaments has compounded other clear political disagreements centred on constitutional reform and change, with different [...]
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 [...]
by Dr Alan Hick Dr Hick is a Board Member of New Europeans International and a former senior official at the European Economic and Social Committee 1st May 2022 This article has been reproduced with kind permission from New Europeans The first time I met Altiero Spinelli did not go [...]
March 2022 sees the release of A League-Union of the Isles. Conceived as a reflection on Glyndwr Cennydd Jones’s constitutional writing since 2016, it encompasses an exploration of devolution, federalism, confederalism, and more significantly—that possible middle ground—confederal-federalism. Not wishing to alienate the generally moderate elements of both unionism and nationalism [...]
