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Fiction, Fact and Future: The Essence of EU Democracy
Since its inception, the European Union has developed to become an open and transparent system which is democratically accountable to more than five hundred million European citizens. James Elles explains how the EU functions, emphasizing the emerging role of the European Parliament in the process. Elles reviews the history of Britain’s relationship with the EU and illustrates how a reluctance to consult the British people on multiple Treaty changes led to a lack of understanding about Brussels. Looking to the future, Elles assesses the global long-term trends that lie ahead to 2030 and underlines that closer European cooperation, for example on environmental and digital policies, will help them to be more easily resolved. As the next decade unfurls, the EU with President Macron at the forefront of the debate will progress and the European Parliament will continue to develop as a platform for the voice of the European people. From the disinterest of political leaders to the ambitions of emerging nations, Fiction, Fact and Future is not only a guide to why Britain failed to make the most of its EU membership, but also an optimistic message to a younger generation to help shape their future in the 21st century.
90 pages, Paperback
Published December 15, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 23, 2022
3.5
This gave some interesting insights of the relationship of UK politicians to the EU. It was less well presented when trying to explain how EU institutions work together - this is in part due to the complexity of the system, but a better job could have been done - one that gives a neutral overview instead of being too focused on the EU Parliament. The discussion of future challenges was interesting but lacked depth.
Overall, the book perhaps used too broad strokes. It's shortness made it accessible, but it was trying to cover too much in too little detail to do the topics justice. It would also have benefitted from waiting another year until publication to be able to take the final Brexit negotiation outcome into account.
This gave some interesting insights of the relationship of UK politicians to the EU. It was less well presented when trying to explain how EU institutions work together - this is in part due to the complexity of the system, but a better job could have been done - one that gives a neutral overview instead of being too focused on the EU Parliament. The discussion of future challenges was interesting but lacked depth.
Overall, the book perhaps used too broad strokes. It's shortness made it accessible, but it was trying to cover too much in too little detail to do the topics justice. It would also have benefitted from waiting another year until publication to be able to take the final Brexit negotiation outcome into account.
April 22, 2023
The fiction vs fact portions are highly informative and interesting the future portion, being written in 2019, mainly rather disheartening.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews