John Cotter
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drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter
@drjohncotter.bsky.social
2.3K followers 1.5K following 1.4K posts

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.

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John Lambert Cotter was an American archaeologist whose career spanned more than sixty years and included archaeological work with the Works Progress Administration, numerous posts with the National Park Service, and contributions to the development of historical archaeology in the United States. .. more

Political science 29%
Materials science 18%
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drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · Sep 8
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.
drjohncotter.bsky.social John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · Aug 28
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...
www.europeanpapers.eu

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
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.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
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

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
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
jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social Jakub Jaraczewski @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social · 1d
🇭🇺⚖️🇪🇺💶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/

Reposted by John L. Cotter

jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social
Jakub Jaraczewski @jakubjaraczewski.bsky.social · 1d
🇭🇺⚖️🇪🇺💶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/

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
Maybe owning a football club and hearing Talksport levels of analysis of his activities every day is bleeding into his entire way of thinking.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 1d
Our entire public discourse is being colonised by uninformed, lazy pub bores like Jim Ratcliffe.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 3d
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.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 3d
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.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 4d
Sounds like you may have been a formative experience in a villain origin story there, Eoin.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 4d
Did you know he’s from Macroom?

Reposted by John L. Cotter, Aoife O’Donoghue

colinmurray.bsky.social
Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 4d
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

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 5d
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.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 5d
“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.”

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 5d
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?”

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 5d
One wonders what McSweeney’s departure will do to the already fraught state of Cork-Not Cork diplomatic relations.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 5d
True, although the Sunday politics shows and Sunday paper politics stuff pre-dates it. It definitely does resemble sports coverage though.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 5d
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.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 6d
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.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 6d
I hope Piers Morgan doesn’t find out about Trump’s racism and the tooth fairy on the same day.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 7d
And if things are really as grim for Starmer as is being suggested, what does he have to lose anyway?

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 7d
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.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 7d
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).

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 7d
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.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 7d
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

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 7d
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

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 7d
It’s obvious that most political correspondents are trained in - or have as their bread and butter - day-to-day political or interpersonal machinations. A “week is a long time in politics” view of the world. They’re not so good on the longer term constitutional structures that underpin it all. /1

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 9d
I’m sorry, but if large corporate chains can’t support themselves without state intervention, maybe they shouldn’t have so many pubs…
pippacrerar.bsky.social Pippa Crerar @pippacrerar.bsky.social · 10d
NEW: Reform UK says it would re-impose the two-child benefit cap - scrapped by Labour - for most families to fund £3bn support package for pubs.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 9d
Like what’s the point in targeting obvious Traitors early on? It’s just a game of reducing numbers and saving yourself. Better the devil you know.

drjohncotter.bsky.social
John Cotter @drjohncotter.bsky.social · 9d
The utter beautiful chaos of the Irish Traitors. The first series in which contestants finally say the quiet or unspoken things out loud.

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Steven French, John L. Cotter , and 1 more

pippacrerar.bsky.social
Pippa Crerar @pippacrerar.bsky.social · 10d
NEW: Reform UK says it would re-impose the two-child benefit cap - scrapped by Labour - for most families to fund £3bn support package for pubs.