Democracy & Citizenship

Both the Daily Mail and Daily Express stated that EU law has to be changed so that foreign doctors can have their command of English checked.  They claimed such checks are currently “banned” under EU law.   The Mail reported, “Patients lives are being put at risk by doctors whose English language skills have never been tested because it is […]

If you’re a UK citizen confused about the value of EU membership, due to the ‘untruths’ coming from UKIP and the national press, then just follow the evidence, writes Jon Danzig.         It’s probably best not to be too entrenched about most subjects. That’s a lesson you learn as you get older.   […]

Returning from UACES, and eager not to get lost in the big pile of emails that awaits me, I spent some time thinking about how to integrate all of the things that I’d been hearing over the past few days. While my focus had been mainly on euroscepticism, I also listened to sessions on the […]

Should the EU introduce common standards for the regularisation of irregular migrants even though the principle is often contested?

Students from across Europe gathered in Loughborough on 8-9 July for the 14th Annual Student Forum conference. In this post Kathryn Simpson, University of Kent, reports on the last session of the conference, a roundtable on 'Britain and the EU'.

It’s not often that I nap in the afternoon, but I managed it last Friday. Partly it was the muggy weather, but mainly it was listening to the second reading of the European Union (Referendum) Bill in the Commons. While I wait for you to recover from your shock, I’ll just explain a bit why. […]

The idea of concept stretching is not a new one, and certainly predates Satori’s seminal piece on the topic from 1970, at least in practical terms. However, it’s an idea that has continued relevance for all researchers, especially those in the social sciences. it was something I was reminded of this week, during some workshop […]

This week, we held our third annual workshop of the UACES Collaborative Research Network on Euroscepticism in Brussels. As with its forerunners, the event brought together a wide range of academics and practitioners and there was much enlightening discussion. I’ll come back to some of the other themes in coming posts, but today I want […]

After the many months of a fast evolving debate on the European Union here in the UK, recent weeks have seen some of the steam being let out. Partly this is due to the fading profile of the eurozone crisis in news agendas, and partly because everyone is waiting for the next peg on which […]

To watch just my question and the answers click here (5 minutes) At a debate in London this week about the future of the European Union, I asked high-level politicians and senior academics: “How are we going to raise the level of debate in this country which is quite frankly appalling?  It’s very vitriolic, it’s […]