Concrete Achievements

Category: Twitter

  • Switzerland is a half-direct democracy, argues @claudelongchamp (at #swissbreakfast) -…

    Switzerland is a half-direct democracy, argues @claudelongchamp (at #swissbreakfast) – popular votes interacting with parliaments. Could be a solution to democratic disaffection in rest of Europe.

    There have been 222 constitutional revisions in Switzerland through popular votes of which 22 have been successful.

    Of the 200 that are lost, about 25% have had some compromise position later passed through Parliament.

    93% of parliamentary decisions have no referendum, 7% are contested, of which about half are approved and half overturned.

    The most important part of Swiss democracy is not the voting but the dialogue.

    Doesn’t Brexit show that some things are just too complicated, asks @niknuspliger?

  • Please stop calling it Common Market 2.0.

    Please stop calling it Common Market 2.0. It’s a cheap sop to fool people who “thought we were joining the common market” and is hostage to whatever “trade but no migrants” vision they have in their heads.

    Call it “Norway Plus” or “EEA+” or “Great British Winston Churchill Old Maids Cycling To Communion Through The Autumn Mist Special Arrangement” but not Common Market 2.0.

    Otherwise the Mail will lead *for the next decade* on “we were told it was Common Market 2.0 but LOOK now we have to follow health and safety rules of BRUSSELS TYRANTS without even a VOTE”

    And the Mail will be right, to the extent that we won’t have a vote, and it won’t be like Common Market 1.0 – because in Common Market 1.0, EU Membership, we have a vote.

    Common Market 2.0 should be called Common Market Parental Controls Edition.

  • Please stop calling it Common Market 2.0.

    Please stop calling it Common Market 2.0. It’s a cheap sop to fool people who “thought we were joining the common market” and is hostage to whatever “trade but no migrants” vision they have in their heads.

    Call it “Norway Plus” or “EEA+” or “Great British Winston Churchill Old Maids Cycling To Communion Through The Autumn Mist Special Arrangement” but not Common Market 2.0.

    Otherwise the Mail will lead *for the next decade* on “we were told it was Common Market 2.0 but LOOK now we have to follow health and safety rules of BRUSSELS TYRANTS without even a VOTE”

    And the Mail will be right, to the extent that we won’t have a vote, and it won’t be like Common Market 1.0 – because in Common Market 1.0, EU Membership, we have a vote.

    Common Market 2.0 should be called Common Market Parental Controls Edition.

  • Links from the week of 25 March 2019

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • Links from the week of 25 March 2019

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • Links from the week of 18 March 2019

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • Links from the week of 18 March 2019

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • Links from the week of 11 March 2019

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • Links from the week of 11 March 2019

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.

  • Links from the week of 4 March 2019

    Articles, reports and other links I shared on Twitter this week.