10 November 2015

Open Europe responds to David Cameron’s letter and speech on EU reform

Open Europe has published its response to Prime Minister David Cameron’s letter to European Council President Donald Tusk as well as his speech earlier today, which set out his reform and renegotiation demands ahead of the EU referendum.

What’s not in the letter and speech?

Given there were no major surprises it might have disappointed some people’s expectations that he would pull some kind of rabbit out of the hat. While this remains possible, it also has to be considered that some EU states may not take kindly to additional demands being added late in the negotiation process. The demands remain quite high level with few additional technical details and, as we have said before, the devil will be in the detail. For example, in terms of the competitiveness agenda, it will be relatively easy to get other EU leaders to endorse this principle but it remains to be seen what concrete progress will be made on top of the reforms already taking place. In his letter, Cameron calls for a “target to cut the total [regulatory] burden on business” but this is very vague and open ended.

The exact implementation or formulation of these reforms will be important. Not just in terms of whether they can actually be agreed but also on how they will be viewed in the UK. They need to be seen as permanent and legally binding to be taken seriously. As such, there is still a lot of uncertainty over exactly how the reform package will look. People can no longer complain they don’t know what the UK wants, but they can still question exactly what form this will take.

Notably, on the question of securing a four year restriction on new EU migrants’ access to benefits, Cameron left open the possibility of achieving this either at the EU level or domestic level, possibly via a new residency test, arguing that “I understand how difficult some of these welfare issues are for other Member States and I am open to different ways of dealing with this issue.” While this would achieve the objective set out in the Conservative manifesto, it would also impact on UK nationals whose access to in-work benefits would be similarly restricted, and he will come under substantial pressure from the media, Tory MPs and above all the Leave campaigns for not actually having achieved changes to EU-level rules.

In terms of content, there are issues which we believe still need to be on the reform agenda, especially in the longer term, including but not limited to: serious EU budget reform, reform of the European Court of Justice, devolving employment policy back to member states and restoring UK judicial control over justice and home affairs laws. Cameron skated over these issues – for example, on the question of justice and home affairs, he said that “the UK will need confirmation that the EU institutions will fully respect [and] preserve the UK’s ability to participate.” This is very vague and appears to demand only a reiteration of the status quo.

Did Cameron spell out his vision for the UK’s place in Europe?

Cameron has been criticised for failing to spell out his broader vision for the UK’s place in the EU but he addressed this existential issue today arguing for a flexible Europe which can accommodate both member states who want a more pragmatic trade-based relationship as well as those who have a deeper ideological commitment to European integration. He argued that the EU ought to recognise these different visions and “celebrate their diversity as a source of strength”. However, in seeking a UK-specific opt-out from ever closer union, Cameron has arguably undermined the principle of a more flexible Europe for everyone and underlined the UK’s exceptionalism. Cameron also hit back at claims that the UK is a ‘disengaged’ EU member pointing out its key role in foreign policy in forcing through EU sanctions against the likes of Russia and Iran. [...]

Full response

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