Federalism

09.05.2017 EU Politics

Saying the EU needs reform has become a truism, but there’s no consensus on what to reform or how

Timothy Garton Ash, in a column for The Guardian about the task facing Macron after his election on Sunday, sums up the new French President’s challenges in the EU thus: it’s great that Macron also wants to reform the EU,

24.05.2016 Brexit

Ultimately I cannot bring myself to vote for Brexit

Holding a British passport, and at the same time being committed to EU integration and the democratisation of the European Union, has never been easy. The months since the UK general election, David Cameron’s EU ‘deal’, and the subsequent referendum

06.03.2016 Brexit

The EU referendum will not improve UK-EU relations, so federalists and progressives outside the UK should advocate Brexit

The standard way of looking at the UK’s EU referendum in other capitals around Europe, and indeed within the EU institutions in Brussels, is that – often a bit grudgingly – people feel it would be better for the EU

01.06.2014 EU Politics

Democratising the EU in post democratic times

The title of this blog entry is intentionally contradictory. Yet it encompasses the central challenge the European Union in facing. To start, what are we supposed to do about democracy in the European Union, viewing democracy in the classical post-World

05.12.2013 EU Politics

So Martin Schulz, are you, or are you not, a federalist?

Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament and wannabe Commission President, was on BBC World’s Hard Talk yesterday (4th December 2013), and used the following words: You used the term that I am a European federalist. I have never in

12.09.2012 EU Politics

Why I won’t vote for a federalist political party

I have been repeatedly criticised on Twitter this morning by @PaulMBrady65 for saying I am a federalist, but refusing to vote for a federalist party in European elections. Here is a quick explanation why (I can’t easily get the nuance

26.05.2012 EU Politics

Declan Ganley

I was in the audience for Declan Ganley’s presentation at RUSI in London yesterday. It was one of the most interesting and civilised debates about EU matters I have attended in London in recent times. If you’re interested to hear

02.01.2012 EU Politics

Even if the EU became a functioning representative democracy tomorrow it’s not going to solve its ills

What do you do when one of the fundamental things you’ve believed in for years, have spent ages working towards, is actually not anywhere near as desirable as you previously thought? That’s basically the predicament I find myself in these

29.04.2011 UK Politics

On the wrong side every time

Agh, today is painful. I’m a republican, atheist, anti-nationalist, and there’s a royal wedding going on, people sing god save the queen, and British flags are everywhere. Which got me thinking: which of my political views are actually similar to

27.01.2011 EU Politics

European federalism – never more necessary, yet never has the prospect looked so distant

Essentially journalists, politicians, bloggers and the general public have two frames of reference when talking about the European Union. Either it’s talked about in terms similar to the descriptions used for international organisations (the UN, NATO) or in terms similar

01.01.2011 EU Politics

Enough of the tiresome pro-European vs. Eurosceptic fight

Am I a pro-European? A pro-EU person? A Eurosceptic? An EU-sceptic? A Europhile? An EU-phile? A Europe-phile? A Europhobe? An EU-phobe? I don’t know. Does anyone really know? Does anyone actually think about these terms? In UK discourse about the

04.02.2010 EU Politics / UK Politics

If you want to be a Eurocrat you have to be an arch-federalist – FT just uses the same old broken frames

It’s good to see that the story that the UK government is cutting funding for the College of Europe is starting to be seen more widely – today’s FT has a story entitled “Funding cut for places at Eurocrat college“.