12 April 2016

OMFIF: Cameron’s unsatisfactory deal

In attempting to renegotiate Britain’s EU arrangements, David Cameron, the prime minister, has not secured a satisfactory deal. The UK has failed to enshrine the supremacy of UK law and parliament over European decision-making. The European court of justice can override the UK ‘supreme’ court, so UK sovereignty is meaningless. [...]

Cameron wanted more flexibility ‘to accommodate the diversity of its members’. He got agreement that ‘the UK… is not committed to further political integration into the EU’ – an advance that doesn’t go far enough. He wanted fairness in new euro area arrangements ‘for those inside it and out’; he got an assurance that non-euro countries would not be discriminated against by the euro bloc.

Cameron wanted power ‘to flow back to member states’, and greater democratic accountability through ‘a bigger and more significant role for national parliaments’. In both areas he achieved nothing of significance.

Unfortunately, the EU will remain bogged down for decades by the foolish decision to force a fundamentally flawed single currency and the Schengen treaty on so many countries with very different fiscal policies, cultures and customs.

The UK within a sluggish EU hidebound by the euro and the gaping democratic deficit risks losing out on worldwide opportunities to align with the more dynamic trading nations. The next European treaty would inevitably embroil the UK in even further euro area integration, despite non-membership of the euro.

For all these reasons, in the 23 June vote I favour leaving the EU, with which the UK will retain close and friendly trading arrangements. This outcome is likely to be in the best interests both of Britain and Europe as a whole.

Full article on OMFIF

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