New EU Delegation for UK

EU UK relations

On Tuesday, a large majority of MEPs voted in favour of setting up the European Parliament’s new standing delegation to the EU-UK Parliamentary Assembly. Following a proposal by the conference  of presidents (EP president and chairs of political groups), plenary set up the new standing delegation and the number of MEPs that will sit on…

Fast Roll-out of Vaccine in UK

Consider this: on the day the UK announced it had given the coronavirus jab to 1.5m of its citizens, there were some EU member states yet to vaccinate a single one of their citizens. These included The Netherlands, which has always prided itself on its healthcare system but neighbouring Belgium also pretty much matched the…

EU-UK Negotiations Set to Continue

The UK-EU trade deal prioritises sovereignty over economics. Politicians will soon be talking about how to improve the deal. Very little about the UK’s long-term relationship with the EU has been settled, writes Charles Grant. One particular comment that I heard during the Brexit negotiations has lodged in my memory. In September 2020, a senior…

EP to Scrutinise EU-UK deal

On Monday 28 December, the leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament and President David Sassoli exchanged views with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier on the deal reached on 24 December on the future relationship between the EU and the UK. The Conference of Presidents reiterated…

British Government Announces “Turing Programme”

A new £100 million scheme for students to study and work abroad will replace the UK’s participation in Erasmus+ The UK has cancelled further participation in Erasmus+ and has replaced it with a new scheme designed to enable students to study and do work placements across the world. The Turing scheme will be backed by…

UK and EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement

On 24 December 2020, the UK and EU agreed a new Trade and Cooperation Agreement to govern the future trading and security relationship now that the UK has left the EU.  President Ursula von der Leyen spoke about the “long and winding road ” that led to an agreement. However, it is also clear that there is much…

Pacta Sunt Servanda

A reply to a comment made by the Russian ambassador to Austria on the Ukraine conflict, written by Olexander Scherba, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Austria. There is naive hypocrisy, outrageous hypocrisy – and hypocrisy beyond comprehension. For example the hypocrisy of a state that has promised to respect your borders, then takes your country away…

Raab Declares Breach of Sino-British Joint Declaration

Following the disqualification of four pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong, the UK Government has declared China in breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “Beijing’s imposition of new rules to disqualify elected legislators in Hong Kong constitutes a clear breach of the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration.” “China has once…

In Praise of Female Firefighters

An increase in the number of female firefighters has been welcomed by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), but more progress needs to be made in this area. The latest figures published by the Home Office – covering the period from April 1st 2019 to 31st March 2020 – focusses on a range of workforce areas across…