European Union

During the fourth trilateral talks with Council and Commission, Parliament’s negotiators underline that a lot remains to be done before an acceptable agreement can be reached.
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

During the fourth trilateral talks with Council and Commission, Parliament’s negotiators underline that a lot remains to be done before an acceptable agreement can be reached.
Committee on Budgets

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

Written by Marcin Grajewski,

© shocky / Adobe Stock

There is now growing doubt about possible progress on the future relations between the European Union and the United Kingdom. The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has tabled a bill on the internal market within the country, which contains provisions relating to the border between Northen Ireland and the rest of the UK that violate the agreement on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, and would thus constitute a breach of international law. The European Parliament has already indicated that it would not be able to ratify any post-Brexit EU-UK trade agreement, if such arrengements were to be adopted.

This note offers links to recent commentaries, studies and reports from international think tanks on numerous challenges facing the UK, EU and their future ties after their divorce.

UK Internal Market Bill: Risks and challenges
UK in a Changing Europe, September 2020

UK threats to break international law make a Brexit deal even more difficult
Institute for Government, September 2020

The Internal Market Bill: Implications for devolution
UK in a Changing Europe, September 2020

Breaking international law is no way to protect peace in Northern Ireland
Institute for Government, September 2020

The irreparable damage Boris Johnson is wreaking on Britain
Carnegie Europe, September 2020

How the EU could counter Brexit nonsense told to the UK public
Friends of Europe, September 2020

Brexit: ‘Un accord de libre-échange éviterait le chaos aux frontières’
Centre for European Reform, September 2020

The UK government should be prepared to compromise on the UK internal market
Institute for Government, September 2020

Brexit: Endgame
European Policy Centre, September 2020

Beyond state aid: The future of subsidy control in the UK
Institute for Government, September 2020

What the UK-Japan trade deal signifies
Policy Exchange, September 2020

The Swiss approach to trade with the EU
UK in a Changing Europe, September 2020

Advice for Boris Johnson: Don’t take the EU on in lawfare
LSE, September 2020

The latest on Brexit
Council on Foreign Relations, September 2020

European Foreign Policy after Brexit
Carnegie Europe, September 2020

China and Brexit: What’s in it for us?
European Council on Foreign Relations, September 2020

Picking up the broken pieces of UK foreign policy
Chatham House, September 2020

Five reasons why even a basic EU-UK trade deal is better than nothing
Centre for European Reform, August 2020

Trade and regulation after Brexit
Institute for Government, August 2020

Preparing Brexit: The scale of the task left for UK business and government
Institute for Government, August 2020

Europe tests the waters for a stronger defence policy: EU leaders must agree on where threats to the continent originate
Centre for European Reform, August 2020

Beyond Brexit negotiations, the UK and the EU have decisions to make on their future relationship
Institute for Government, August 2020

The Brexit parenthesis: Three ways the pandemic is changing UK politics
European Council on Foreign Relations, August 2020

Brexit scenarios: Heading for a no-deal exit?
European Policy Centre, July 2020

Preparing Brexit: The scale of the task left for UK business and government
Institute for Government, July 2020

Boosting the resilience of Europe’s financial system in the coronavirus crisis
Bruegel, July 2020

Turkey and the UK: New best friends?
Centre for European Reform, July 2020

Towards an ambitious, broad, deep and flexible EU-UK partnership?
European Policy Centre, June 2020

Ceasefire: Managing divergence in post-Brexit Europe
European Policy Centre, June 2020

Don’t let UK-EU foreign policy co-operation be collateral damage of Brexit
Centre for European Reform, June 2020

EU-UK negotiations: No need to panic (yet)
Centre for European Reform, June 2020

The geographically asymmetric impact of Brexit
Egmont, June 2020

The Brexit time bomb
European Policy Centre, June 2020

The European Union’s post-Brexit reckoning with financial markets
Bruegel, May 2020

How will Covid-19 impact Brexit? The collision of two giant policy imperatives
Bruegel, May 2020

Latest thinking and research about Brexit from LSE
LSE Brexit blog, 2020

Read this briefing on ‘Brexit: Towards the end-game‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

The upcoming negotiations over the EU's long-awaited new migration proposal are expected to hit another dead end, despite the European Commission's assurances of having held an "intensive consultation process".

Belarus will close its borders with EU neighbours Poland and Lithuania and step up security measures at the Ukrainian frontier, President Alexander Lukashenko announced on Thursday (17 September).

A new migration pact, reform of the WHO and WTO, stricter climate targets and a move away from the principle of unanimity: in her State of the Union address on Wednesday, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a number of goals. Praiseworthy ambition or meaningless rhetoric?

A debate has flared up in France over "virginity certificates" issued by doctors after Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in an interview that he plans to make the practice a punishable offence. Several doctors responded on 16 September with an appeal to the government published in the daily Libération to reconsider the plans. Other commentators welcome the initiative.

The discussion about imposing various sanctions against Russia continues: the EU Parliament has proposed in a resolution "Navalny sanctions" against Russian individuals whom Navalny accuses of corruption. For Russian observers this proposal is not necessarily good.

After the publication of undercover research carried out by the animal rights organisation Otwarte Klatki at Poland's largest fur farm, PiS boss Jarosław Kaczyński is backing a draft law aimed at banning fur farming. But because the fur industry feeds thousands of Poles, the plan has led to such a heated dispute within the ruling right-wing coalition that it's very survival is at stake.

Switzerland will hold a referendum at the end of September on the introduction of a two-week paid paternity leave. Up to now, fathers can only take one day's paid leave after the birth of a child by law, although some companies voluntarily grant more. Switzerland is among the lowest ranking countries in the OECD comparison on paternal leave systems. Commentators discuss the potential of two weeks of family time.