10 February 2014

VP Reding: The EU is stronger with the UK; the UK is stronger within the EU

"As the European Parliament elections in May draw near, it is more important than ever to engage with citizens and hold a frank discussion about Europe, what it means today and what it should mean tomorrow", said Vice-President Viviane Reding, speaking ahead of the debate. "Now celebrating 40 years inside the European Union, the Winston Churchills, Harold Wilsons and a line of UK politicians on both sides of the political spectrum have long recognised that Europe is far from being confined to the continent. I hope that the UK, and the citizens I will meet in London on Monday, will be strong participants in the debates about Europe’s future."

Press release

The UK has been shaping world history for centuries and can continue to do so as part of a European Union that collectively is a big player on the world stage... The Confederation of British Industries (CBI) estimates 4-5 per cent of British GDP can be attributed to its EU membership. And that British households would each be £3,000 a year worse off outside the EU. It is the EU's clout in signing trade deals worldwide, already worth £15 trillion ($24trillion), which is opening up markets for UK companies.

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We can only succeed and be a world power by working together

It was Winston Churchill who said "We must build a kind of United States of Europe. Small nations will count as much as large ones and gain their honour by their contribution to the common cause.’’ I borrowed his words for a reason: because I believe in a strong Europe where Member States remain self-governed, where sovereignty stays at home.

We can only succeed and be a world power by working together. This is true in economics, trade, defence, foreign policy and global challenges like climate change. In a world where China and India will both have populations 20 times that of the UK, we need the EU to help pursue our national interests.

Special relationships aside, it is the EU that the US is negotiating a free trade agreement with. An agreement that is set to benefit the EU economy to the tune of £100 billion (€120 billion) and every British household to the tune of over £400 a year (€500). It boils down to this: The European Union is the largest economy in the world. Together, EU and US make up 46 per cent of the world economy. The UK alone: 3 per cent.

You cannot have the single market without the free movement of people

This is the single market: Four fundamental freedoms. You cannot separate one from the other. You cannot have free movement of services and capital, but not of persons. You cannot have the right to establish your companies in Bucharest or Sofia but not accept workers from Romania and Bulgaria working in your country.

The debate has become emotional, too much so. We have to put it back into proportion. We are talking about 14 million Europeans out of 507 million, or 3 per cent of the EU's population, the majority of which work and contribute to their host country. Evidence of individual criminal fraud cases has to be tacked rigorously at home. It cannot be used to suggest there is a widespread, systemic problem in Europe...

Britain plays an important part in making EU laws

The Members of the European Parliament are powerful: they make laws for 507 million people. Your 73 British MEPs make European laws. Your British Ministers make European laws. At the European Parliament elections in May, you will be able to make a crucial choice on what course you want Europe to take in the next few years.

Full speech

The Mail reports that Reding accused British politicians and media of so misrepresenting the EU that it is now impossible to hold a fair referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. "You are on the verge of having (to take) maybe a national decision?" she said. "Do the people who are asked to vote know what they are going to vote about?" "The fact is that very often, I see a completely distorted truth being presented and then how do you want people to take an informed decision? They simply cannot."

The Telegraph further reports that in an earlier interview with French journalists, Reding set her face against attempts by David Cameron to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU before a potential in-out referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU in 2017. She said: “There will be no repatriation of EU powers. It is not our problem, it is not us making the demands. You are either ‘in’ or ‘out’. British sovereignty is mainly in their head because they've signed the EU treaty and most business is in Europe.”

© European Commission