Articles about:
Brexit
For half a century I have campaigned for a united Europe with Britain playing a full role. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) that was approved by the British Parliament on 30 December heralded, for me, a very bad and very very painful day. The TCA finalises Britain’s divorce from...
The failure to move Albania and North-Macedonia into EU accession candidate status last October made the governments and the citizens of these two countries pretty upset. Friends of enlargement were appalled by the perceived arrogance and ignorance of France and the other non-supporters of the case. This was, however, not...
While Brexit was a non-issue in the Irish general election, considerable challenges emerge from it. While the Withdrawal Agreement of the UK from the European Union facilitated Boris Johnson’s ability to win the 2019 British general election through consolidating the Leave vote, it hampered the prospects of the Irish Prime...
Ireland: Clash between the official narrative of the economy and the lived reality of people’s lives
After almost four years of minority government, led by Fine Gael and supported by Fianna Fáil in the form of a ‘confidence and supply arrangement’, voters were looking for a change. ‘The large of votes given to Sinn Féin was only dampened by the fact that they did not run a...
The UK is plunged into a December election for the first time since 1923, and the dominant issue is, of course, Brexit. Not that an election can ever be fought on one issue – and there is no shortage of other matters that feature in the campaign, from the state...
In his recent book, “Alarums and Excursions – improvising politics on the European stage”, Dutch historian Luuk van Middelaar analyses how a decade of crises – from the financial chaos of the euro and Greek sovereign debt, to the conflicts with Russia over Ukraine, unprecedented levels of refugees from across...
The UK referendum on the EU in 2016, narrowly won by the ‘Leave’ side (52% to 48%), has resulted in much discussion about a divided nation. Caroline Macfarland sets out her vision of what a better public dialogue could look like and how it could capture the interests of younger...
The European Commission has been spurred into action and published proposals on a so-called “European Pillar of Social Rights”, as well as a discussion piece on possible scenarios for the EU’s future. Laudable attempts to launch a broad and all-encompassing debate on where we want this Union to go. The...