23 January 2013

Julian Priestley: David Cameron's argument will fool no-one, and will relegate the existing EU-UK relationship to the periphery

Writing on the LSE blog, Priestley says that Britain's European future deserved better than the mediocrity of the argument and the banality of the conclusion which was on offer today.

After the obligatory reverences to Europe’s past, the speech fell back on the familiar eurosceptical fallacies. The EU is portrayed as a kind of land-bound leviathan which has taken on a life of its own. A number of very basic facts are ignored; the global financial crisis has created a problem of public debt which is hitting euroland and non-euroland countries, and which both categories are struggling to overcome; the UK is not some oasis of rampant prosperity and competitive excellence only held back by EU regulations, its economy is underperforming compared with the majority of EU  Member States which have adopted the euro; the crisis has demonstrated glaring weaknesses in the governance of the euro but belatedly and painfully decisions are being taken to address the design faults; despite all the gleeful forecasts, the announcement of the imminent death of the euro seems premature; yes, of course the UK should be looking to increase its trade with the rest of the world but is it seriously imagined that the intra-European trade will be anything less than crucial to the UK economy for any foreseeable future?; and, as to the democratic argument, all significant EU decisions are taken not by bureaucratic conspiracy but by a majority of democratically elected governments accountable to national MPs and by a majority of democratically elected MEPs. Even this UK government finds itself in the majority in Council on a majority of issues where votes are taken, and most decisions are still made by consensus.

As to the euro crisis itself, Cameron is right to say that there will be changes in euro governance but that does not amount to a case for redefining theUK’s relationship with the EU. For what the Prime Minister appears to be proposing is, on the one hand, to encourage the euro countries and the euro aspirant countries to strengthen the common institutions in a fiscal and ultimately political union, while in a kind of backwards shimmying, relegating the existing EU-UK relationship to the periphery...

There is no evidence that the Cameron scenario - a renegotiation of the whole relationship as a prelude for a referendum to renew public consent - could enjoy even the most limited success...

Despite the customary slickness in presentation, the speech will fool no-one. What is at stake here is very straightforward. Mr Cameron’s speech and this cynical apology for a European policy appear to many as solely designed to shore up his personal position as party leader and prevent UKIP from siphoning off votes which could guarantee the return of his party to the opposition benches. But so amateurishly blatant has been the manoeuvre that our partners abroad, the international business and finance community, the British voters and even the eurosceptics in his own party will see through it all.

Full article

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