John Cotter
@drjohncotter.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Law at Keele University, England. Research in EU constitutional law, especially defence of democracy, and impeachment. Irishman living in Cheshire. Views are my own.
Pinned
John Cotter
@drjohncotter.bsky.social
· Sep 8
My latest article ‘Democracy Manifest? Ensuring the EU Legislature’s Democratic Legitimacy
in the Face of National-Level Autocratisation’ has just been published online and open access in European Papers: www.europeanpapers.eu/en/system/fi...
in the Face of National-Level Autocratisation’ has just been published online and open access in European Papers: www.europeanpapers.eu/en/system/fi...
www.europeanpapers.eu
Last mention of my most recent article on how - as a last resort - EU law can be (re-)-interpreted to protect the democratic legitimacy of its legislature in the face of Member State autocratisation.
PS - the Court would also be right here to apply close scrutiny to the Commission’s decisions, because that veto threat does apply strong incentives for it to abrogate or dilute the Commission’s role in defending and enforcing Article 2 TEU values.
February 12, 2026 at 12:35 PM
PS - the Court would also be right here to apply close scrutiny to the Commission’s decisions, because that veto threat does apply strong incentives for it to abrogate or dilute the Commission’s role in defending and enforcing Article 2 TEU values.
Trading funds for votes will not be an effective long-term strategy if the Court will turn around and declare the de facto compromise unlawful. It doesn’t of course fix the problem (because the Court takes time), but it may strengthen the Commission or at least deprive it of excuses. 2/2
February 12, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Trading funds for votes will not be an effective long-term strategy if the Court will turn around and declare the de facto compromise unlawful. It doesn’t of course fix the problem (because the Court takes time), but it may strengthen the Commission or at least deprive it of excuses. 2/2
If that Court follows the AG (as I think it should, because the EU’s foundational values should not be negotiable), it will help strengthen the Commission and the Council against the continued express or implied threat of Hungary’s veto in the area of foreign affairs and security policy. /1
🇭🇺⚖️🇪🇺💶The first of CJEU AG opinions on Hungary is out - AG Ćapeta advises the court to find that the Commission's unfreezing of funds for Hungary under the Common Provisions Regulation should be annulled, as the alleged rule of law reforms didn't really happen. 1/
February 12, 2026 at 12:31 PM
If that Court follows the AG (as I think it should, because the EU’s foundational values should not be negotiable), it will help strengthen the Commission and the Council against the continued express or implied threat of Hungary’s veto in the area of foreign affairs and security policy. /1
Reposted by John Cotter
🇭🇺⚖️🇪🇺💶The first of CJEU AG opinions on Hungary is out - AG Ćapeta advises the court to find that the Commission's unfreezing of funds for Hungary under the Common Provisions Regulation should be annulled, as the alleged rule of law reforms didn't really happen. 1/
February 12, 2026 at 9:28 AM
🇭🇺⚖️🇪🇺💶The first of CJEU AG opinions on Hungary is out - AG Ćapeta advises the court to find that the Commission's unfreezing of funds for Hungary under the Common Provisions Regulation should be annulled, as the alleged rule of law reforms didn't really happen. 1/
Maybe owning a football club and hearing Talksport levels of analysis of his activities every day is bleeding into his entire way of thinking.
February 11, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Maybe owning a football club and hearing Talksport levels of analysis of his activities every day is bleeding into his entire way of thinking.
Our entire public discourse is being colonised by uninformed, lazy pub bores like Jim Ratcliffe.
February 11, 2026 at 10:29 PM
Our entire public discourse is being colonised by uninformed, lazy pub bores like Jim Ratcliffe.
The lesson, if it was needed, is don’t do stupid and/or immoral things to attempt to manage Trump’s stupidity and/or immorality. Mandelson as Trump whisperer wasn’t right and was never worth it anyway.
February 9, 2026 at 6:32 PM
The lesson, if it was needed, is don’t do stupid and/or immoral things to attempt to manage Trump’s stupidity and/or immorality. Mandelson as Trump whisperer wasn’t right and was never worth it anyway.
What we are also seeing here are the reaches of the chaotic effects of Trump. You’d imagine Mandelson would have been nowhere near the ambassador role had Trump not been elected. Starmer’s misjudgment is a still a novus actus interveniens, but no Trump, likely no Mandelson.
February 9, 2026 at 6:28 PM
What we are also seeing here are the reaches of the chaotic effects of Trump. You’d imagine Mandelson would have been nowhere near the ambassador role had Trump not been elected. Starmer’s misjudgment is a still a novus actus interveniens, but no Trump, likely no Mandelson.
Sounds like you may have been a formative experience in a villain origin story there, Eoin.
February 8, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Sounds like you may have been a formative experience in a villain origin story there, Eoin.
Did you know he’s from Macroom?
February 8, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Did you know he’s from Macroom?
Reposted by John Cotter
Tomorrow's Headlines
The Telegraph: Starmer Next!
The Guardian: Morgan McSweeney's Gone, Thank God!
The Irish Times: Irishman forced out of UK Labour Role
The Irish (Cork) Examiner: Having Completed Michael Collins' Work, and brought low the British Government, Macroom Calls it's Son Home
The Telegraph: Starmer Next!
The Guardian: Morgan McSweeney's Gone, Thank God!
The Irish Times: Irishman forced out of UK Labour Role
The Irish (Cork) Examiner: Having Completed Michael Collins' Work, and brought low the British Government, Macroom Calls it's Son Home
February 8, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Tomorrow's Headlines
The Telegraph: Starmer Next!
The Guardian: Morgan McSweeney's Gone, Thank God!
The Irish Times: Irishman forced out of UK Labour Role
The Irish (Cork) Examiner: Having Completed Michael Collins' Work, and brought low the British Government, Macroom Calls it's Son Home
The Telegraph: Starmer Next!
The Guardian: Morgan McSweeney's Gone, Thank God!
The Irish Times: Irishman forced out of UK Labour Role
The Irish (Cork) Examiner: Having Completed Michael Collins' Work, and brought low the British Government, Macroom Calls it's Son Home
For anyone in Ireland wondering, there are no bonfires lighting in the villages of England to mark the departure of Morgan McSweeney. Not in this part of Cheshire anyway.
February 8, 2026 at 5:38 PM
For anyone in Ireland wondering, there are no bonfires lighting in the villages of England to mark the departure of Morgan McSweeney. Not in this part of Cheshire anyway.
“Sure, you know that lad McSweeney down the road. Thought he was fierce smart. Went over to London and had notions he was running the place. And didn’t they only chase him out in the end. He’d have been better off in County Hall.”
February 8, 2026 at 5:19 PM
“Sure, you know that lad McSweeney down the road. Thought he was fierce smart. Went over to London and had notions he was running the place. And didn’t they only chase him out in the end. He’d have been better off in County Hall.”
Or will it be added to the list of cautionary tales already told in Cork along the lines of “sure, why would you be leaving Cork anyway, like?”
February 8, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Or will it be added to the list of cautionary tales already told in Cork along the lines of “sure, why would you be leaving Cork anyway, like?”
One wonders what McSweeney’s departure will do to the already fraught state of Cork-Not Cork diplomatic relations.
February 8, 2026 at 5:15 PM
One wonders what McSweeney’s departure will do to the already fraught state of Cork-Not Cork diplomatic relations.
True, although the Sunday politics shows and Sunday paper politics stuff pre-dates it. It definitely does resemble sports coverage though.
February 8, 2026 at 3:26 PM
True, although the Sunday politics shows and Sunday paper politics stuff pre-dates it. It definitely does resemble sports coverage though.
In what world but the Westminster bubble is Sunday a day for a resignation? In fact, the whole phenomenon of politics being a Sunday sport is odd when you think about it.
February 8, 2026 at 3:20 PM
In what world but the Westminster bubble is Sunday a day for a resignation? In fact, the whole phenomenon of politics being a Sunday sport is odd when you think about it.
JD Vance probably convincing himself that the booing was oppressive woke Europe trying to cancel him and that only brutalisation of the decadent booing masses by state-sponsored thugs can restore free speech.
February 6, 2026 at 10:49 PM
JD Vance probably convincing himself that the booing was oppressive woke Europe trying to cancel him and that only brutalisation of the decadent booing masses by state-sponsored thugs can restore free speech.
I hope Piers Morgan doesn’t find out about Trump’s racism and the tooth fairy on the same day.
February 6, 2026 at 7:22 PM
I hope Piers Morgan doesn’t find out about Trump’s racism and the tooth fairy on the same day.
And if things are really as grim for Starmer as is being suggested, what does he have to lose anyway?
February 6, 2026 at 5:22 PM
And if things are really as grim for Starmer as is being suggested, what does he have to lose anyway?
I could be entirely wrong, but I think a lot of the assumed obstacles to the UK joining the EU or at least some form of closer economic integration are becoming exaggerated. There needs to be some impetus shown for it.
February 6, 2026 at 5:21 PM
I could be entirely wrong, but I think a lot of the assumed obstacles to the UK joining the EU or at least some form of closer economic integration are becoming exaggerated. There needs to be some impetus shown for it.
The situation on the EU side has also changed btw, and the case for the UK joining is now much more attractive (if some kind of maturity and stability can be signalled again from the UK).
February 6, 2026 at 5:19 PM
The situation on the EU side has also changed btw, and the case for the UK joining is now much more attractive (if some kind of maturity and stability can be signalled again from the UK).
Sure, some people would jump up and down in a silly rage about it. However, I think a silent majority of people, even a lot of people who voted leave, would quietly breathe a sigh of relief that finally someone was acting like a grown-up and had a clear vision and plan.
February 6, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Sure, some people would jump up and down in a silly rage about it. However, I think a silent majority of people, even a lot of people who voted leave, would quietly breathe a sigh of relief that finally someone was acting like a grown-up and had a clear vision and plan.
Starmer gets unfair criticism, but one criticism I think is fair is that he seems unable to spot and utilise opportunities: the US going rogue is a chance to say that 2016 was in another age and there is now a clear case for saying the decision to turn away from Europe was wrong and must be reversed
February 6, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Starmer gets unfair criticism, but one criticism I think is fair is that he seems unable to spot and utilise opportunities: the US going rogue is a chance to say that 2016 was in another age and there is now a clear case for saying the decision to turn away from Europe was wrong and must be reversed
It goes back to a quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt: “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” Why discuss slow-burning or even immediate threats to democracy and the rule of law when you can report “he said, she said” or “how is this polling?” 2/2
February 6, 2026 at 9:26 AM
It goes back to a quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt: “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” Why discuss slow-burning or even immediate threats to democracy and the rule of law when you can report “he said, she said” or “how is this polling?” 2/2