Tag: Referendum

Imagining the EU: Words Associated with the EU and Europe

Clare Llewellyn and Laura Cram The Imagine Europe project has been collecting data since the summer on how the UK’s relationship with the EU is talked about on Twitter. Clare Llewellyn and Laura Cram present an update on the hashtags used in the debate and the sentiments associated with them. Strasbourg Plenary October 2015, European …

EU Reform: The View from Local Government

Serafin Pazos-Vidal Local government in Scotland is greatly affected by the EU, with regulations and targets to implement that involve large compliance costs far outweighing any EU funding, writes Serafin Pazos-Vidal. He argues that the debate on the UK’s EU membership brings an opportunity for important EU reform to involve local government better in EU …

Changes to the UK’s EU Membership Might Require the Consent of the Scottish Parliament

Cormac Mac Amhlaigh In-Depth Analysis In this extended article, Cormac Mac Amhlaigh considers the implications of the UK’s EU renegotiation and referendum for Scotland’s devolution settlement. He suggests that, since changes to EU membership could significantly impact the powers of the devolved institutions, a case could be made that consent for the renegotiation and the referendum …

Scotland and Brexit – What Will the Euroref Campaign Look Like?

Peter Lynch Although UK-wide referendums are not frequent, Scotland has more extensive experience with them, most recently in the independence debate, writes Peter Lynch. He argues that, while some of the same issues will feature in the EU referendum, the campaign is likely to be very different, with less grassroots engagement, greater emphasis on elites …

A Future Uncertain: Why Brexit Would Leave Scotland More Dependent on Westminster

Andrew Glencross If the UK votes to the leave the EU, it will most likely establish a Swiss-style trade relationship to replace EU membership, writes Andrew Glencross. He suggests that future UK governments would be unable to change this relationship unilaterally without risking retaliation, leaving Scotland more dependent on the UK government for good relations …

Building a Twitter Dataset to Find out How People View the EU

Clare Llewellyn and Laura Cram In the context of the UK’s referendum on membership of the EU, Clare Llewellyn and Laura Cram are investigating how people use social media to talk about the UK-EU relationship. They provide the first update on the project, which has a presence on Storify, explaining the process of building a dataset …

The Calm Before the Storm – Preparing for the EU Referendum

Christina McKelvie Many questions surround the upcoming EU referendum and the shape of the UK’s relationship with the EU, writes Christina McKelvie. She explains that these questions form the basis of the European and External Relations Committee’s work on the impact of EU renegotiation and reform for Scotland, which aims to contribute to informing the …

Britain’s European Futures? Reflections from a Seminar Discussion

Drew Scott Following a recent seminar and panel discussion on the UK’s EU renegotiation and referendum, Drew Scott reflects on the prospects for Britain’s relationship with the EU. He writes that, with the uncertainty surrounding the role the UK wants to play in Europe, the ultimate positions of the other EU Member States in the …