This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. Recent Brexit developments dominated yesterday’s discussion, with most speakers highlighting that preserving the rights of UK and EU27 citizens is a priority. In the plenary debate with European Council President Donald Tusk and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, most of the EP group leaders praised […]MEPs debate Brexit and relations with China following EU spring summit
March 28, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. Recent Brexit developments dominated yesterday’s discussion, with most speakers highlighting that preserving the rights of UK and EU27 citizens is a priority. In the plenary debate with European Council President Donald Tusk and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, most of the EP group leaders praised […]Brexit preparedness: EU completes preparations for possible “no-deal” scenario on 12 April
March 25, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. As it is increasingly likely that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union without a deal on 12 April, the European Commission has today completed its “no-deal” preparations. At the same time, it continues supporting administrations in their own preparations and urges all EU […]The UK remains in the EU until a new Brexit date is set
March 25, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Last Thursday, the EU’s 27 leaders unanimously agreed to delay the departure of Britain from the club by at least a fortnight. The exit date had been fixed on 29 March 2017 for exactly two years on. However, the postponement of the divorce sets a tough task for Jeremy Corbyn, the head of the major […]MEPs vote to limit negative impact of no-deal Brexit on citizens
March 14, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. To ensure the least possible disruption, MEPs on Wednesday vote on travel, transport, Erasmus, social security and fisheries measures. At the request of the European Parliament and the Council, the European Commission proposed urgency measures to mitigate the effects of a withdrawal of the […]UK must make clear what it wants, MEPs say in Brexit debate
March 14, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. MEPs today commented on yesterday’s rejection of the Brexit deal in the House of Commons. Most members underlined that the UK must make up its mind and say what it wants. Click on names of speakers to watch the individual statements. “We are not […]The EU might as well go down the drain if foreign meddling corrupts May’s elections
March 13, 2019 by Leave a Comment
The EU elections will take place in about two months’ time but anti-European together with foreign parties are most likely going to try to exert influence on the upcoming outcome. Anti-establishment parties are expected to change the current balance and status quo if the two mainstream parties, the conservative EPP (European People’s Party) and the […]Brexit: No deal without marginalizing the hard Tory Eurosceptic MPs
February 28, 2019 by Leave a Comment
More than once during the difficult past Brexit months the British Premier Theresa May has said that a deferment of the divorce day beyond the 29 March limit, will serve nothing. Actually, this is her only accurate assessment of the Brexit conundrum. Very simply because this crucial question has remained unresolved for 32 months after […]Protecting citizens’ access to social security in case of no-deal Brexit
February 26, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU 27 will keep their social benefits acquired before withdrawal in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The text adopted on Tuesday by the Employment and Social Affairs Committee aims to safeguard entitlements to […]A backbencher Tory MP threatens both EU and UK with a no-deal Brexit
February 18, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Last Thursday’s latest vote in the British Parliament, the Commons, revealed the real forces operating in relation to the country’s Gordian Knot, Brexit. Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May’s newest proposal for a kind of a soft Brexit deal, under the name of ‘Plan B’ was rejected last Thursday in Parliament by 303 to 258 votes. […]A lack of affordable homes is forcing young Britons to live with their parents
February 15, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Alex Thornton, Senior Writer , Formative Content Choosing when to leave home isn’t easy. Independence has to be balanced against security. The freedom of a space of your own weighed against the responsibility of doing your own laundry. But […]Erasmus+ will finance existing UK-EU mobility in the event of no-deal Brexit
February 6, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. The Culture Committee will support continued funding to all current Erasmus+ learning mobility activities, in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The European Parliament’s Culture Committee discussed with the EU Commission the proposed new contingency measures for the Erasmus+ programme, should the UK leave […]Brexit: UK to suffer from EU’s uncompromising stance
February 4, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Last Tuesday, 29 January, 317 British MPs voted for (301 against) the Tory Sir Graham Brady’s amendment, to replace the ‘Northern Ireland Backstop’ with elusive “alternative arrangements“. This NI Backstop is an integral part of the Brexit Agreement, PM Theresa May concluded with the other 27 EU leaders last December. It guarantees that, after the […]After globalization what? Europe’s long, straining shake-up post Davos wreckage
January 28, 2019 by Leave a Comment
It’s an established fact by now that the Eurozone economy is slowing down. The International Monetary Fund cuts down the relevant growth estimate for this year to 1.6% and 1.7% for 2020. This is far below the robust 2.4% of 2017. The German economy, the largest and the more competitive country of the club, is […]EP Brexit Steering Group calls on the UK to overcome the deadlock
January 25, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. EP Brexit Steering Group discussed today the state of play of Brexit in light of last week’s meaningful vote and Prime Minister May’s Statement last Monday. It calls on the UK to clarify its position in the coming days. European Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group […]Brexit: Only Corbyn and May in concert can make the needed compromises
January 21, 2019 by Leave a Comment
A small group of British Tory MPs numbering around 120 representatives are decisively planning to send Britain to the cliff in a no-deal Brexit. Before last Xmas, they triggered an intraparty procedure to oust Prime Minister Theresa May from the party Presidency and consequently drive her out from 10 Downing Street. They were in minority […]Brexit: the time has come for the UK to clarify its position
January 17, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. In the debate following the UK House of Commons’ meaningful vote, MEPs underlined that Europeans will remain united and that citizens’ rights are still the EP’s priority. Following the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration in the UK’s House of Commons […]UK Labour Party leader Corbyn readies to change Brexit political backdrop
January 14, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Tomorrow, Tuesday, the British Parliament, the Commons, is to vote on Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposal, for a kind of soft Brexit withdrawal agreement. As everybody agrees, it’s most likely this PM’s plan will be rejected by the majority of the parliamentarians, as they have also voted down her other proposals during the past critical […]Brexit: Is there anybody supporting a non-violent separation?
January 3, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Like Christopher Clark’s ‘Sleepwalkers’, Britain alone on the one side and the European Union led by Germany and France on the other are walking apart, without a deal to jointly settle their future relations. One and a half years have elapsed since the 23 June 2016 referendum, with endless talks and self-complacency. Still, neither side […]From glass ceiling to glass cliff: women are not a leadership quick-fix
December 31, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Author: Beth A. Brooke-Marciniak, Global Vice-Chair, Public Policy, EY What do you need to innovate in the Transformative Age? You need diversity. You need men. And you need women. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but it […]2019: An unpredictable, confrontational and financially ominous year
December 27, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The global outlook for 2019 was already looking unpredictable and dangerously confrontational, but the firing of US Defense Secretary, the moderate retired general Jim Mattis makes it exponentially more so. During the past few months ‘America first’ President Donald Trump has dismissed all the top three reasonable American policy makers. First it was the State Department […]EP Group leaders on Brexit: “the agreement is not open to renegotiation”
December 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. The Conference of Presidents indicated that the Withdrawal Agreement is fair and balanced and the only deal possible. It is therefore one not open to renegotiation. The Conference of Presidents, together with the Brexit Steering Group, discussed today the state of play of the […]Britain in chaos: May stays as Tory leader and PM but none can defuse the Brexit time bomb
December 13, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday night the embattled British Prime Minister and President of the Conservative Party, Theresa May, won an intraparty no confidence vote. This was a Tory party internal procedure, triggered by members of her own parliamentary group. In the final result 200 Conservative MPs voted for May and 117 against her. In this way, she secures […]Brexit: the time has come to back the withdrawal deal
November 30, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. Parliament debated the UK’s withdrawal from the EU with EU Brexit chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Thursday. Commenting on the conclusions of the Extraordinary European Council of 25 November, where heads of state or government backed the negotiated withdrawal agreement and the political declaration […]Why the UN is investigating poverty in the United Kingdom
November 18, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you thanks to the strategic cooperation of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum. Authors: John McKenna, Formative Content For the past 12 days Philip Alston, the United Nation’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, has been investigating the poverty of a nation in 2018. But the country he is investigating […]European Commission recommends to the European Council (Article 50) to find that decisive progress has been made in Brexit negotiations
November 15, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The negotiators of the European Commission and the United Kingdom have today reached a deal on the terms of the Article 50 Withdrawal Agreement. All aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement have now been finalised and agreed at negotiator level. This agreement marks a decisive […]Britain’s May won the first round on the Brexit agreement with the EU
November 15, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last Tuesday, the British Prime Minister Theresa May, said she has struck a Brexit agreement on the future relationship with the European Union. In reality though this is a withdrawal agreement, not a full trade or otherwise deal for the future relations between the two sides. Yesterday she won the backing of her deeply divided […]British PM May’s Brexit proposal remains obscure while her government unravels
November 12, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Only days before, Theresa May, the British Prime Minister is expected to table her proposal for a Brexit deal in the Commons, the British Parliament, and her government appears unraveling. Her transport Minister Joe Johnson resigned last week, having revived the discussion about a second referendum. He was strongly pro-remain in the June 2016 Brexit […]Brexit: Ensuring a smooth transition for car producers and safety on the roads
November 6, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. Manufacturers who obtained a UK type-approval for their cars will be able to apply for new EU-27 approvals to retain access to the European Union’s market. The draft law voted on in the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee on Monday addresses the legal […]Brexit effect: Public opinion survey shows that EU is more appreciated than ever
October 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. The latest EU public opinion survey, conducted in September 2018, reveals a clear and growing appreciation for EU membership, reaching a record high of 68%. The latest Eurobarometer survey, measuring public attitudes to the EU across member states, highlights that more people than ever […]Main results of European Council of 18/10/2018
October 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Council. The European Council on 18 October focused on migration and internal security. It was followed by the Euro Summit in an inclusive format. On 17 October, EU27 leaders met in the European Council (Art.50) to discuss Brexit. Brexit At the European Council (Art. 50) working dinner on […]EU tells Britain stay in as long as you wish
October 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This newspaper has repeatedly asserted there will be no real Brexit, at least in the foreseeable future. Last week, the European Council in Brussels confirmed this. The President of the Council, Donald Tusk, made it clear. He plainly said Britain can remain as a full EU member after the Brexit day of 29 March 2019, […]Window for a Brexit deal: Brussels to think again May’s proposal
October 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This is the first time the British Prime Minister Theresa May can tell mainland Europeans, she can guarantee her Tory conservative Party won’t topple her over her Brexit proposal. The reason is that, last week, she marked a triumph at the annual conference of the governing Party at Birmingham. Obviously, the burning subject of the […]
