What is the Common Travel Area? The Common Travel Area (CTA) is an open borders area comprising the UK (including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) and Ireland. Within the CTA, Irish and British citizens can travel freely with minimal controls at borders. The CTA tends to be associated as well with the ‘special…
On Thursday, 18 October, the European Council met in Brussels to discuss migration, internal security and external relations. Following the morning session, EU27 leaders held a Euro Summit to discuss the deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union. EU leaders had previously met in EU27 format on Wednesday, 17 October over a working dinner to…
Luxembourg General Election Luxembourg went to the polls on Sunday, 14 October to elect a new Parliament, known as the ‘Chambre des députés’, or Chamber of Deputies. While the centre-right Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) won the most seats as a single party with 21 seats, the current centre-left coalition government made up of the…
Latvian General Election The Latvian electorate went to the polls on Saturday, 6 October to elect a new Parliament, known as the ‘Saeima’. Seven political parties secured enough votes to take seats in Parliament, with the Social Democratic Party, ‘Harmony’, topping the polls with 19.8 per cent of the vote. Coalition negotiations are expected to…
The European Council met in Salzburg, Austria for an informal meeting under the Leaders’ Agenda on 19-20 September to discuss migration, internal security, and Brexit. The informal summit was hosted by Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, as Austria currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU). On Wednesday, 19 September, Chancellor…
State of the European Union Address President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, delivered his fourth and final annual ‘State of the European Union’ address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 12 September 2018. The forward-looking speech, entitled ‘The Hour of European Sovereignty’, set out the priorities of the European Commission for the last…
Swedish General Election The Swedish electorate went to the polls on Sunday, 9 September to elect a new Parliament. Sweden traditionally has a high voter turnout, and this year was no different at 84.4 per cent. Preliminary results show that the electorate has returned a hung Parliament, with no outright winner. Official results will be…
UK White Paper on Legislating for the Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union On Tuesday, 24 July, the UK government released a White Paper on Legislating for the Withdrawal Agreement between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU). It sets out the UK government’s plans for the withdrawal legislation…
What is the UK White Paper? On Thursday, 12 July, the UK government published a 98-page White Paper outlining its proposals for the future relationship between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) after the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019. The White Paper covers areas such as the future EU-UK economic relationship,…
The United Nations defines migrants as people who choose to move to another country mainly to improve their lives by finding work, or in some cases for education, family reunion, or other reasons. Refugees, on the other hand, are defined as fleeing armed conflict or persecution and cannot return home because it is too dangerous. …