The EU deal to avoid Brexit: Take it or leave. CEPS Special Report No. 131/February 2016

Beyond the drama of the European Council summit of 18-19 February 2016, what became clear was the fundamental desire on the part of the leaders of all 28 EU member states to agree a deal on the British government’s demands for a renegotiated settlement on the UK’s relationship within the European Union. The deal has provided David Cameron with the political capital he needed to call a date for the in/out referendum and to lead a campaign for the UK to stay in the EU. Yet, for all the technical reforms packed into it, the deal is neither a crowd pleaser nor a vote winner. It does, however, mark a watershed acknowledgement that EU integration is not a one-directional process of ‘ever closer union’. In this CEPS Special Report, Stefani Weiss and Steven Blockmans analyse the substance of the “Decision of the Heads of State or Government, meeting within the European Council, concerning a New Settlement for the United Kingdom within the European Union” and shed light on its legal character. They contextualise this EU deal to avoid Brexit, and draw on the conclusions reached in a simulation of European Council negotiations between representatives of think tanks in the European Policy Institutes Network (EPIN), conducted by CEPS and the Bertelsmann Stiftung in October 2015.

Britain’s Future in Europe: The known Plan A to remain or the unknown Plan B to leave. CEPS Paperback 2nd Ed., March 2016

Following the agreement made by Prime Minister David Cameron with the EU on 18-19 February 2016, the day for the referendum for the UK to remain in or leave the EU is set for 23 June 2016. This will be the most important decision taken by the British people in half a century, and whose consequences will live on for another half century. The first edition of this book, published in March 2015, laid the foundations for any objective assessment of the workings of the EU and the UK’s place in it. It was widely acclaimed and rated as “a myth-breaking exercise of the best kind”. This second edition adds a substantial new chapter following Cameron’s agreement with the EU and announcement of the referendum. It reviews both the ‘Plan A’, namely the status quo for the UK in the EU as amended by the new agreement, and three variants of a ‘Plan B’ for secession. The key point is that the ‘leave’ camp have not done their homework or ‘due diligence’ to specify the post-secession scenario, or how the British government would face up to the challenges that this would bring. The authors therefore do the ‘leave’ camp’s homework for them, setting out three Plan Bs more concretely and in more depth than the ‘leave’ camp have been able or wanted to do, or any other source has done. The book is therefore unique and essential reading for anyone concerned with the fateful choice that lies soon ahead.

The Revenue Sharing Act : general revenue sharing payment of entitlements to local governments.

Mode of access: Internet.

Plain reasons addressed to the people of Great-Britain, against the (intended) petition to Parliament from the owners and occupiers of land in the county of Lincoln, for leave to export wool. With some remarks on Sir John Dalrymple's treatise, lately published, in favour of a general exportation of wool.

In manuscript, p. iv : [the author] "The Revd. Sheepshanks, rector of St. Johns in Leeds".

Never leave well enough alone. [The personal record of an industrial designer]

Mode of access: Internet.

Family leave provisions in union contracts.

Mode of access: Internet.

Parental leave benefits provided by employers.

Mode of access: Internet.

Sixth period entitlements /

Cover title; at head: General revenue sharing.

Sooboonagam Ammal : or, "Jesus, I my cross have taken all to leave and follow Thee" /

Mode of access: Internet.

Bob Brierly; or, The ticket-of-leave man, a romance of the present day.

Mode of access: Internet.

Journal of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction : thirty- ninth Congress, first session : appointed pursuant to the concurrent resolution of December 13, 1865, with direction "to inquire into the condition of the states which formed the so-called Confederate States of America, and report whether they or any of them are entitled to be represented in either house of Congress, with leave to report by bill or otherwise."

Mode of access: Internet.

Address to the Board of aldermen of the city of Boston, Jan. 3, 1829, on taking final leave of the office of mayor.

Mode of access: Internet.