Hooooooo boy! Britain (snort, the "UK", snort snort) has been a deadweight dragging back the EU for decades. Always exceptionalist, always complaining, and always wanting to be treated special, Britain has continuously been a thorn in the EU's side.
Now, with a Hard Brexit coming and no legitimate chance for anything else, the EU will be unhitched from the deadweight that is Britain and their small-world vision, and have put forth a forward-looking change in leadership, that plots an exciting future for the Union.
Proper technology oversight and legislation. Aggressive doubling-down on green goals. And appointment of an Irishman to the role as Minister of Trade.
If you are not up on Brexit and the "Irish Question", what the EU has done is slapped Britain in the face with a wet fish, and made it very clear that Ireland is - and will remain - a part of the EU, even when Britain leaves. Google the "Irish Backstop" to learn exactly why this is such a juicy stance for the EU to take.
The best part? This isn't a pipe-dream-team. It is a group of leaders who have passed the initial vetting with better support than expected.
The Hungarian dude is an issue, and I think is a plot device selected by the EU to force their Prime Minister - Viktor Orban - to heel. When this guy loses his bid to be the Minister of EU Expansion (or whatever the title is), Hungary will be further isolated from the "business end" of the EU, and it will be seen as a referendum on Hungary's rapid decline into totalitarianism.
There is nothing in this article that doesn't make me grin, and think, "FUCK YEAH, EU!! Go kick some ass, pick up the Baton Of Leadership that America has abandoned, and give us all hope for the future!"
It's nice to see some positivity and good news in politics. That's rare these days.
Hard Brexit is still by no means a certainty. The bookmakers seem to be saying there's roughly a 25% chance of a hard brexit this year, and give a 33% chance to article 50 being cancelled and the UK staying in the EU. That said with 53% of the UK's seats in the EU elections going to left leaning parties it shouldn't hurt the EU's chances for major reform too much if they stay. 15% of the UK's EU seats are members of the Greens–European Free Alliance, whereas 9% of the EU's parliament is a member of this alliance. Overall the UK seems to roughly match EU average distribution in seats except for their right wing seats, which are extreme right as opposed to moderate right. I had nice sources for all these claims but cannot post them as I'm a newb.
I'm not so sure it in the UK's hands, any more. The EU gave them until October to come up with a viable plan for exit. Article 50 was triggered, and has been extended twice. I'm slightly hazy on what happens if the country triggering Article 50 just fails to do fuckall, like the UK has... but I think the EU ends their membership: aka, Hard Brexit. In a future where Britain cancels Article 50, I expect the EU comes down like a ton of bricks on them, and forces the UK into the EMU, and rescinds many of the special allowances they have had to make in the past. The UK has clearly been negotiating in bad faith, so all of the workarounds the EU has made for 50 years to appease the damp northern whiners will no longer be easy to maintain. A chastened UK is not a participatory member of the EU, and will not be operating in good faith with the rest of the member states. You don't get to storm out of the house in a hissy fit, go fuck other women, and then come back home and act all penitent and expect your wife to take you back in. Fuck that guy. (This is me, putting on my "EU Minister" hat, and speaking for the EU.)