EU institutions & treaties
EU needs an overhaul
17 October 2013
European Voice
All across Europe, people are fed up with the European Union. The eurozone's difficulties explain much of the disenchantment.
It's time for European governments to embrace a real reform agenda for the EU
14 October 2013
LSE blog
Hugo Brady writes that rather than attempting to negotiate the re-nationalisation of EU powers to Westminster, he and other European leaders should consider some practical, feasible reforms that the Union can begin to implement immediately.
Video interview on 'How to build a modern European Union'
09 October 2013
Charles Grant discusses his latest CER report which discusses the fact that despite its many achievements, the EU’s institutions and policies are badly in need of an overhaul.
Video interview on 'How to improve legitimacy by involving national parliaments in the EU'
12 June 2013
Charles Grant discusses how part of the answer to improve EU legitimacy is to give national parliamentarians a bigger role in the EU.
How to reduce the EU's democratic deficit
10 June 2013
The Guardian
The European Union has long suffered from a lack of legitimacy, but the euro crisis has worsened the problem. There is no silver bullet that can suddenly make the EU respected, admired or even popular among many Europeans.
The EU's Court of Auditors: Europe's sleeping giant?
28 May 2013
E!Sharp
Veteran EU watchers consider the Union's budget as unreformable: a ritualistic doling out of public money into the pockets of farmers, MEP's expense accounts and the salaries of EU officials.
The Brussels backroom deal that will live in infamy
01 April 2013
Carnegie Europe
The decision to establish a third official seat of the European Parliament (EP) in Dresden, quietly announced on Friday afternoon, when most observers and journalists had already left Brussels to head home for Easter, is a classic example of EU horse-trading. It is also epitomises everything that is wrong with Brussels.
Will other EU countries block any attempt by the UK to renegotiate its membership?
24 January 2013
City A.M
David Cameron seems to have made it his mission to frustrate other EU countries. This means his plea for renegotiation will be (largely) rebuffed. What has Cameron done to upset the others?
Brytyjski ekspert: Cameron w sprawie budżetu Unii postawi na swoim
23 November 2012
Gazeta Wyborcza
Brytyjski premier nie jest sam. Oszczędności chce Szwecja, Holandia i, co najważniejsze, Niemcy - mówi John Springford, analityk brytyjskiego think tanku Centre for European Reform
My state of the Union
05 October 2012
E!Sharp
President Barroso's team recently asked me to contribute to September's State of the EU speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. I thought the final product was rather good. Sadly, its main message – a purposely confrontational call for a 'federation of nation states' – was obscured on the...
Would Orwell be pro-European?
01 May 2012
E!Sharp
George Orwell devoted a lot of his writing to how the use of language is intimately connected to the abuse of power by politicians and officials. The final commandment in Animal Farm (“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”) and the “Newspeak” of Nineteen Eighty-Four...
One flew over the EU's mess
19 March 2012
The Wall Street Journal
Welcome to the European Union Home for the Economically Insane. We care for nations dealing with status anxiety, paranoia and low self-esteem, or those who are simply drifting into a senile old age. Please follow me on the guided tour.
Upstairs we have the Acropolis Room. This is where...
Upstairs we have the Acropolis Room. This is where...
Why European diplomacy is in decline
03 February 2012
E!Sharp
Critics of the EU's External Action Service (EEAS) agree that its creation will hardly be remembered as a high point in the annals of European foreign policy. Some say that the EU's quasi-diplomatic corps does not yet work well because its leadership, under Baroness Cathy Ashton, suffers from inexperience and...
Why the EU needs a migration organisation
01 June 2011
European Voice
A European Migration Organisation would help the EU develop clearer responses to migration. EU leaders will discuss reform of the Schengen area at their summit next week (23-24 June).
The rise of the Euro-punks
22 October 2010
E!Sharp
Recently I attended an off-the-record Brussels “think-in” where a very prominent European politician wondered out loud what the future would be for the EU now that his children’s generation were taking the reins.
“People talk about a lack of political leadership in Europe but there are deeper factors at work,” he...
“People talk about a lack of political leadership in Europe but there are deeper factors at work,” he...
Le G20 a manqué une chance de réformer la finance
24 April 2010
La Tribune
Vendredi après-midi, ministres des Finances et banquiers centraux des pays riches et émergents du G20 se sont réunis à Washington pour discuter des projets de régulation du secteur financier.
Tre getingar till Reinfeldt som EU-ordförande
29 December 2009
Sidan 4: Debatt
Statsministern och hans team var kompetenta förhandlare. Men de stora framgångarna lyste med sin frånvaro under ordförandeskapet, skriver Clara Marina O'Donnell.
Missing another EU opportunity
18 November 2009
The Guardian
When Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband, made clear that he was not interested in being the European Union's new "high representative" for foreign policy, the UK lost a unique opportunity to craft the EU more in its own image.
Is Tony Blair the right man to be president of Europe?
25 October 2009
The Observer
Yes, says Charles Grant. His presence would improve the global credibility of the EU. No, says Henry Porter. He co-authored the Iraq war and is not a convinced democrat.
Blair would be a good choice for Europe
07 October 2009
Financial Times
If the Lisbon treaty enters into force, which seems likely, the European Union will appoint a president to chair the European Council, which brings together the heads of government.