Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union On 1 July, Austria took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Bulgaria, marking the third time Austria has held the Presidency since joining the EU in 1995. In 2009, the Lisbon Treaty established a system whereby a trio of Member States consecutively…
European Council Summit On Thursday, 28 June, the European Council met in Brussels to discuss a wide range of issues including migration, security and defence, jobs, growth and competitiveness. On Friday, 29 June, EU leaders met in an EU27 format to discuss the Brexit negotiations. EU27 leaders also met for a Euro Summit to discuss reform of the Economic and Monetary Union. Migration The…
What is the EU Withdrawal Bill? The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is currently being debated in the UK Houses of Parliament. Effectively, it seeks to copy EU law into UK law, meaning that after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, all EU legislation would remain in force as domestic legislation, unless it is amended or…
Slovenian General Election The Slovenian electorate went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new Parliament. 25 political parties contested the election, with nine expected to have secured enough votes to be elected. Provisional results show the conservative Slovenian Democratic Party emerging as the largest party with 24.9 per cent of the vote. As…
On Friday, 25 May 2018, a new EU Regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), relating to the protection of citizens’ right to privacy, and the modernisation of data protection laws in the EU, came into effect. The GDPR aims to give individuals greater control over how their personal data are processed and used. …
On Thursday, 17 May, EU leaders and the leaders of the six Western Balkan partners (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) met in Sofia, Bulgaria. Security and connectivity were the themes of this first EU-Western Balkans Summit since 2003. EU Member State leaders also discussed other issues,…
The Hungarian electorate went to the polls on Sunday, 8 April to elect a new Parliament. Sunday’s election saw a high voter turnout and with 98 per cent of results reported, Fidesz-KDNP are expected to be elected for a third consecutive term in office and achieve a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Background The Hungarian…
On Thursday, 22 March, the European Council met in Brussels to discuss a wide range of issues including trade, digital taxation, Turkey and the Salisbury attack. On Friday, 23 March, leaders met in an EU27 format to discuss the ongoing Brexit negotiations and adopt guidelines on the framework for the future EU-UK relationship. On Friday,…
The Italian electorate went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new Parliament made up of the Chamber of Deputies (Lower House) and the Senate (Upper House). The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) had been in power since the last general election in February 2013. The anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) are set to emerge…
On Friday, 23 February 2018, the European Council met in Brussels at an informal meeting to discuss the EU’s long-term budgetary plans and Institutional issues. Brexit, relations with Turkey, and Syria were also discussed. The meeting took place under the Leaders’ Agenda and as the discussions were future-orientated, leaders met in an EU27 format without…