September 14, 2016
For the moment, attention is focussed on the future trade relationship between the UK and the EU. Given that Brexit means Brexit, as Theresa May lucidly puts it, British negotiating options boil down to three: (1) to try for access to the single market via the European Economic Area, like Norway; (2) to fall back… » read more
Posted by Andrew Duff
As no member state has ever left the European Union, there is no useful precedent for the process of British withdrawal under Article 50 TEU. There are, however, several association treaties between the EU and third countries which may offer guidance as the UK seeks to define a new settlement with the EU once its… » read more
Posted by Andrew Duff
July 4, 2016
Most people will have never read a single article of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) before they stumbled recently across Article 50. Alas, those ‘most people’ seems to include many British lawyers and politicians whose acquaintance with the constitution of the European Union has been hitherto remote. So here is my guide to Article… » read more
Posted by Andrew Duff
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, Brexit, Court of Justice, EU referendum, EU treaty, European Commission, European Council, European Parliament, House of Commons |
June 10, 2016
Turks, being both friendly and political, usually ask visitors what they think of Turkey. Seldom nowadays do they like the answer. When criticisms are made by Europeans of Turkey’s apparent drift to Islamist autocracy and away from pluralist democracy, we are reminded that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has frequently (most recently last November) been popularly… » read more
Posted by Andrew Duff
May 24, 2016
Consider, for a moment, what will happen next if the Leavers win the referendum. After a raucous weekend, one assumes that the prime minister will make an apologetic statement to the House of Commons on Monday 27 June. The next day, leaving Samantha Cameron to begin the packing at No 10, David will make his… » read more
Posted by Andrew Duff
April 29, 2016
As the British referendum looms, a false sense of expectation is spreading in Brussels. Some wishful thinking is excusable: Britain’s partners have grown tired of having to tolerate David Cameron’s general contempt for the European Union and of circumnavigating his efforts to salvage the synthetic unity of his Conservative party. The opinion polls show a… » read more
Posted by Andrew Duff
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Enlargement, EU Institutions, UK in Europe , Brexit, Cameron, Court of Justice, ECHR, EU referendum, European Commission, European Council, European Parliament, Future of Europe |
April 19, 2016
Because he is Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Minister of Justice we should take the statement of Michael Gove more seriously than we might pay heed, for example, to the obiter dicta of the Mayor of London. In his speech on Tuesday (19 April), Mr Gove asserted… » read more
Posted by Andrew Duff
February 18, 2016
European Council meetings are deliciously unpredictable – especially, like today’s, when constitutional matters are raised. There are new faces around the table (including the new Latvian prime minister, Maris Kucinskis, who only took office last week) who are largely unknown and, as far as one can tell, largely unknowing about the EU’s constitutional problems. Several… » read more
Posted by Andrew Duff
February 4, 2016
There is much said and to be said about this Brexit business. But here I will deal here only with the continuation of the negotiations between now and the meeting of the European Council on 18-19 February. On 2 February, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, published a letter and a Draft Decision… » read more
Posted by Andrew Duff
December 10, 2015
Dear Prime Minister, I understand from press reports that you are increasingly frustrated by the obstacles that appear to obstruct your renegotiation of the terms of UK membership of the European Union. Maybe I can help. First I will deal with the substance of your demands for treaty change, and then on the form. ‘Ever… » read more
Posted by Andrew Duff
Visiting Fellow, European Policy Centre; Liberal MEP 1999-2014; Federalist.
