Suchergebnisse

As a close aide to Michel Barnier, Stefaan De Rynck had a front row seat in the Brexit negotiations. In this frank and uncompromising account, De Rynck tells the EU's side of the story and seeks to dispel some of the myths and spin that have become indelibly linked to the Brexit process. From the mood in the room to the technical discussions, he gives an unvarnished account of the deliberations and obstacles that shaped the final deal.De Rynck demonstrates how the EU-27's unity held firm throughout, while the UK vacillated, changed negotiators, changed prime ministers and changed their aims and tactics. Attempts by the UK to run down the clock and issue ultimatums to force the EU to acquiesce are shown to have had no effect on the course of events. Instead Barnier's team was successful in protecting EU interests, in fulfilling the mandate defined by 27 national governments while still agreeing different forms of Brexit with two UK prime ministers.For the EU, Brexit was not, as some UK commentators and politicians liked to portray it, a fight with the UK. It was a fight to get a deal that worked for the EU.

The Structural Funds of the European Union have proved to be blunt policy instruments in serving their stated purpose of enhancing both economic & social cohesion. Cohesion policy is embedded in a context of intergovernmental bargaining on budgetary allocations that structures the core of the policy around the yardstick of GDP per capita. This complicates the targeting of the fund on real deprivation. Moreover, a pork barrel logic in policy implementation favors better organized & advantaged groups within regions. This situation, as well as the growing saliency of inequality issues at EU level, have raised concern with the question of "who benefits?" from cohesion policy. The European Commission, some member states, & local actors are responding by developing efforts to tackle deprivation as experienced by EU citizens locally. However, they face important constraints in doing so, which raises broader questions about political representation & access to decision making in the EU. 31 References. Adapted from the source document.

Digitised version produced by the EUI Library and made available online in 2020.