Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'european union'

May 30, 2017

A rift with ‘Europe,’ or just the EU?

After last weekend’s G-7 and NATO summits, leading figures would have the world believe that transatlantic relations are rougher than ever, literally as well as figuratively. The media have highlighted such ephemera as President Trump’s allegedly pushing the prime minister of Montenegro and his white-knuckle handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron. Continue Reading...
May 23, 2017

MEP: This Catholic doctrine can save the EU

In secular Europe, it is rare for politicians to suggest that the European Union’s expansive, imperious policies should be reformed by implementing a Christian doctrine. Yet that is precisely what a manifesto aimed at curbing EU excesses has done. Continue Reading...
March 14, 2017

5 facts about the Brexit vote and Scottish independence

On Monday night, Parliament passed a bill allowing Prime Minister Theresa May to withdraw the United Kingdom from the European Union under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. On the same day, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called for Scotland to hold a second referendum on declaring independence from the UK. Continue Reading...
November 18, 2016

What are ‘transatlantic’ values?

President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held their last joint press conference as heads of state on Thursday, pressing national leaders – in President Obama’s words – “not to take for granted the importance of the transatlantic alliance.” Continue Reading...
November 17, 2016

Brexit: national borders, democracy, jurisdiction

In a recent article for The Telegraph, Sir Roger Scruton discusses the importance of national borders in Europe and the threat that the EU poses to them.  He explains how religion once united Europe but since religion began to fade in the 17th century, territory took over as the principle that Europeans turn to in order to find unity.  Continue Reading...
June 28, 2016

What motivated ‘leave’ voters in Brexit?

In the wake of the British vote to leave the European Union, many are wondering what led the majority of voters to affirm the Brexit. In his commentary Brexit: Against the Political Class, Samuel Gregg points out a common element in all of the motivations behind the “Leave” decision: a frustration with established career politicians. Continue Reading...
June 27, 2016

Brexit reflects desire for democracy

In a piece published at The Catholic World Report, Samuel Gregg maps out the EU’s origins and decline and Britain’s consequential cry to leave its grasp. Gregg explains that although British voters chose to vote for Brexit for various reasons, “It’s hard, however, to deny that the EU’s top-down approach to public life, its stealth supplanting of national laws, and, perhaps above all, the sheer arrogance of its political-bureaucratic leadership played a major role in causing 52 percent of British voters to say that enough was enough.” Continue Reading...