Free Republic

The Brussels Business, to be broadcasted on Arte on 12 February, explores the shadowy universe of the powerful lobby groups at work behind the scenes of the European Union institutions, revealing their opaque and crucial influence on decisions that affect the daily lives of Europe’s citizens. The film’s co-director, Friedrich Moser, tells Presseurop how the idea of making a movie on such a touchy subject came to him, how he managed to persuade the lobbyists to take part, and his ideas on the EU and its future. …(T)here is a democratic deficit compared to the member states. Firstly because, in...

When the framers of Canada's constitution, which was in fact an act of the British Parliament, met back in the 1860s to decide how the country would be governed, they were markedly conscious that it must be both North American and British. It must therefore have a bicameral legislature – i.e., an "upper" and "lower" House – as did both Britain and the United States. They copied the British in calling the lower one "the House of Commons" and the Americans in calling the upper one "the Senate." However, the Canadian Senate bears little resemblance to the American one. The...

On Friday, Europe's heads of state agreed on a draft of a constitution for what they conceive as a new country, Europe. But what is this new nation that is being created for us? A critic recently noted that if the EU were a country, it could never be admitted to the EU. And of course he was right. The democratic deficit - which, so far from being solved this weekend, will be set in stone - is the more scandalous given that it is solemnified less than two months after 10 new countries have joined us, eager to belong...