Coming to terms with a two-speed Europe: what it means for the UK

Speakers:

• Sir Michael Leigh, former Director General (EU Enlargement) in the European Commission
• Dr Tom de Bruijn, former Netherlands Permanent Representative to the EU
• Anne Lambert, former UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU, now director of European and Government Affairs at National Air Traffic Control Services

Chair: Sir Andrew Cahn, Vice-Chairman, Public Policy EMEA, Nomura Bank & former head of UK Trade & Investment

Sir Andrew Cahn introduced the general theme of how best Whitehall should manage itself in order to be effective in Europe given the ongoing crisis in the Eurozone. Sir Michael Leigh underlined the historic role that Britain has had in shaping the European Union. Citing the development of the internal market and the field of shared foreign and defence policy, Leigh argued that Britain had been seen as “fiendishly effective” in protecting its national interest in Europe by many other countries. Looking forward, he saw more division about the benefits of further enlargement, with the UK being supportive but other, smaller nations being reluctant to accept new member states into the EU. Leigh also recognised the opportunity for the UK to create a positive agenda on competences where other states were also seeking more flexibility – for example a revision of the Working Time Directive.

Anne Lambert agreed that the UK had hugely furthered its national interest and shaped European debates through being “at their heart” on issues from better regulation to action against climate change. The “Norway” model would not work here because of the he UK’s size, extent of international interests and reluctance to accept EU legislation without direct input.  Rather the UK needed to use its strength to influence the European debate, and to recognise that the single market would not be possible without consistent environmental, competition and social standards across states.

Dr. Tom de Bruijn pointed to an ongoing debate in Brussels as to whether the UK will be able to continue to exercise its influence within Europe. He foresaw a future where Britain could – for example – lose influence as issues were effectively decided in the Eurozone core. Banking union proposals, for instance, obliged Eurozone members to act as a bloc which then had a qualified majority under the EU voting system.  There were also debates going on about using some structural funds for a Eurozone-only budget for countries in financial difficulty.  He pointed to the risk that the UK would find it hard to replicate earlier successes in placing officials in key roles in the Commission, a body which has historically been supportive of the UK.

To maintain UK effectiveness in 5 years, both Michael Leigh and Tom  de Bruijn, argued for ensuring a strong EU-27 bloc, warning of the risk that Eurozone countries could increasingly drown out the UK’s voice. Tom de Bruijn warned against following Lord Owen’s advice to establish a non-Eurozone bloc of EU members, as the interests of these individual countries diverged too much for such a bloc to be viable.

Questions and Answers

The speakers saw an increased role for national parliaments as the best route for responding to the “democratic deficit” in the EU – though it was pointed out from the floor that this had been tried and failed before. Michael  Leigh was critical of the  government’s negotiating strategy at the December 2011 EU summit, saying that issuing ‘red lines’ on a Wednesday and expecting them to be accepted on a Friday displayed a lack of realism about what was obtainable. Philip Stephens (FT) emphasised the vital role of bilateral relations and pointed to the marked deterioration over the past year in relations between Berlin and London.

Finally, the panel was questioned on the role of the media in shaping the public debate in the UK. They felt that much of the blame for the very negative perceptions of the EU had to lie with ministers who sought publicity only for standing up for narrow definitions of the UK’s national interests in Europe.

Jonny Medland