Bulgarian parliamentary elections for the National Assembly (‘Narodno sŭbranie’) are held every four years. As a unicameral parliamentary, representative democratic republic, Bulgaria’s assembly has 240 seats, with members elected through a ‘proportional representation’ system across 28 multi-seat constituencies. In this multi-party system, a political party or coalition of parties must gain a minimum of 4% of the national vote to enter the assembly, while…
Education is a sector with high levels of mobility for staff and students. This mobility is particularly prevalent between Ireland and the UK. Indeed, for decades, the Common Travel Area (CTA) has provided Irish students with the opportunity to study in the UK and vice versa. Fortunately, the terms of studying, in the UK will…
The UK’s withdrawal from the EU exposes existing issues with Ireland’s energy infrastructure and importantly, with the security of Ireland’s energy supply. While the impact of these issues on energy consumers is indeterminate, its impact on Ireland’s energy market is clear. Despite this, Ireland’s energy sector has developed significantly in recent years. In 2007, Ireland transitioned…
The 2021 Dutch General Election was held over the course of three days between 15 and 17 of March in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) will become the largest party with 35 seats, according to preliminary results/ Democracy 66 (D66), led by Sigrid Kaag, significantly increased its support, becoming the second largest party with an expected 24 seats, an increase of five. Introduction: General Elections in…
Introduction An information revolution has been underway for about the last 20 years. As technology has developed, its power has grown dramatically to the point where most people in Europe get some or all of their information from online digital media. This has radically altered both the volume and quality of the information we can…
Travel is of fundamental importance in our global world. People travel for personal reasons, to visit family or friends and for professional reasons, to visit clients or colleagues. Travel connects us, on a personal and on a professional level. In the EU, travel, or rather the freedom to travel – through the Freedom of Movement…
The emergence of COVID-19 has illustrated the importance of cooperation and coordination on healthcare. From European Union health efforts conducted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) to global health efforts conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), collaboration has proven to be an integral part of our…
The UK’s decision to withdraw from the EU has an effect on consumer protection and on the rights afforded to consumers. On 1 January 2021, the transition period, which required the UK to comply with EU consumer protection rules, ended. Despite the completion of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), UK consumer protection rules will, to an…
The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) provides a robust framework for trade between the EU and the UK. Despite this, trade will inevitably be less simple than it was before Brexit. The customs border created between the EU and the UK has implications for importers and exporters. In addition to customs declarations, checks and…
Over the last number of years, the European Commission has regularly published its Annual Report on Intra-EU Labour Mobility, which examines labour mobility flows and patterns in the EU (intra-EU). The core findings from the Commission’s reports highlight that East – West flows of labour has slowed over the course of the 2010s, while South…