Power for power's sake: Johnson's profoundly alarming premiership

Some commentators hoped that Boris Johnson, having secured a five-year mandate in the General Election, would embrace a softer Brexit than his rhetoric implied. They were mistaken. Johnson seeks power for power's sake, writes Phil Syrpis (University of Bristol), and rejects scrutiny and constraint

The sovereignty illusion: freedom to set one’s own rules has a high price

As the clock ticks down to 31 December 2020, the UK government has repeatedly invoked the concept of ‘sovereignty’ to explain the UK’s reluctance to enter into an FTA with the EU. In this blog, Clair Gammage and Phil Syrpis (University of Bristol Law School) explore the contradictions of navigating the post-Brexit world as a ‘sovereign’ state for the UK

Enough magical thinking. The silly season must stop here

Britain has only a couple of months left to decide on its future relationship with the EU. Phil Syrpis (University of Bristol) says it is time for both the government and the opposition to level with the public about the choices involved. The coarse sloganeering of the past two years will lead to a destructive Brexit unless politicians get real

The people's vote is not the answer to the Brexit riddle

Momentum seems to be building for a people's vote on Brexit. Phil Syrpis (University of Bristol) argues that it will not provide the answer to Brexit - whether or not the government secures a deal with the EU. Rather, he argues that the calls for a people's vote are distracting campaigners from making the case for the outcomes they really want

Regulatory competition in European company law after Cartesio

The aim of this article is to locate the Court of Justice's recent decision in Cartesio (C-210/06) in its free movement context, and to assess its likely effect in relation to the development of regulatory competition in European company law. The article has three main parts. In the first, we provide a brief overview of the free movement jurisprudence of the Court. In the second, we discuss the way in which the Court has dealt with the free movement of companies, paying close attention to the Cartesio ruling. The third section explores the possible impact of Cartesio on the development of regulatory competition in European company law. While there is a realistic fear that Cartesio may herald an increase in potentially damaging regulatory competition--specifically in the market for reincorporations--the impact of the judgment will ultimately depend on the way in which Member States, Community institutions, courts and controllers of companies react to the challenges it creates