The first contacts between the lead European Commission Brexit negotiators and the UK prime minister Theresa May appear to have got off to a disastrous start. There is some speculation that the entire Brexit negotiations could break down before they have really begun. On this scenario, the UK could be heading for the kind of […]

The British prime minister, Theresa May, does not take time off from her responsibilities in London to travel to Scotland – even to address the conference of the Scottish Conservative party – without good reason. Of course, she has every reason since, unless she treads very carefully indeed, the United Kingdom’s threatened departure from the […]

The emergency meeting of Euro-area heads of government in Luxembourg today may be the last chance to prevent a potentially catastrophic series of events in the Euro-area. In spite of the chorus of condemnation of the Greek government’s stand, it is the major Euro-area governments who are primarily responsible for a crisis which could lead […]

Few expressions are more abused among commentators than the description of a pending meeting of European Union heads of government as “a make or break summit.” But given the Greek-Euro area turmoil and the deepening military conflict in eastern Ukraine, the European Council meeting which begins today in Brussels was always likely to be seen […]

Following the dramatic results of the elections to the European Parliament, the focus now shifts to whether the European Institutions and governments are capable of effective response. They will need to react radically and rapidly even if the election post-mortem EU leaders’ summit in Brussels produces little except hand wringing. It would be fatal if […]