Admittedly as an Anglo-Norwegian
now living in London, I have enjoyed the opportunity living and working in
different parts of Europe. Consequently I always take a certain pride in how we
can bridge with our fellow Europeans. I feel it might be worthwhile making a few
explanatory points on our current debate over the European Union. This year
Britain is bringing forward a referendum on a mammoth decision whether to leave
the European Union commonly known as Brexit.
This is a tough one and I can sympathise with those who might
be sitting on a fence. Those that might lack the knowledge or who do not simply
understand a system that we are, in part, responsible for having created over
the last forty odd years. We are confronted with today’s challenges, such
as at geopolitical level in how Britain and France as nuclear powers can
at least pretend to counter the weight of an increasingly unpredictable let
alone erratic Russian President still espousing its military prowess playing chess on the world
stage but also in solving the issues closer to home of our ever increasing
difficulties of our migration and economic crisis.
Let me draw onto those with some arguments that may help us
to reach our own conclusions. For the sake of clarity and for the sole
purposes of this article I shall refer to myself as ‘we’ when referring to the
British rather than Northern European.
Historically, in military terms Europe has always been a
hotbed of competition and conflict. Often Britain has been on the side lines
but on the larger and more defining conflicts we were involved. Britons died
and laid down their lives on continental soils. I am sorely reminded by my
Dutch friends over the battle of the Medway where Admiral de Ruiter had beaten
the British navy along our very own River Thames in 1667. Or when my Norwegian
family candidly talk about their Viking ancestry in Scotland or as a German
friend visiting Amsterdam pointed out that the last time a family member of his
visited this town, it was in a tank!
Nowadays these relaxed albeit friendly conversations of our
momentous often horrific competitive past might occur within the confides of a
cosy cafe whilst eating a toasted cheese sandwich, awash with a Belgian beer on
a rustic cobbled street corner overlooking perhaps a peaceful sunset, a
cathedral or a picturesque canal.
In contrast today unlike our Russian counterparts to the East
we no longer measure up so much in military prowess as to who has the greatest
army, largest naval force and so forth largely because we have been at ‘peace’
for more than 70 years with less if not little understanding today of whom our
enemy really is.
Instead for better or for worse we measure ourselves in
economic terms. Some might argue that finance is a separate issue and
requires a separate debate not least because Finance is in a world of its own,
has become a noun rather than a verb, defining its own set of rules and where I
believe the brunt of our current malaise and problems lie. It will need to come
on board and play cricket if it wants to find its feet again.
Nevertheless the tangible economic argument carries a certain
weight as a good part of our exports are within the Union. In 2014 Britain
exported GBP 230 billion of goods and services which amounts to
44.8% of our total export market and we import slightly more. We export to
Europe perhaps due to proximity but largely due to what is now called the European
Union. This is an internal single market where we trade goods and services
without barriers and tariffs. Those outside the Union might refer to this as
some sort of cartel or monopoly that they too would like to be part of. In
essence this is what our union is about; a pooling together of our natural
resources to neutralise competition. In other words let’s produce coal and
steel, trade it, and enrich ourselves for the purposes of peace and harmony.
Yes by and large the EU has increased our standard of living and we have all
benefited except we have all since moved on from coal and steel.
Today Europe has now developed and connected itself with a
fantastic array of motorways, railways, bridges and, tunnels, supported by some
of the best automobiles, locomotives, haulage and ships. Its engineering and
technology is often cutting edge. Airbus employ 15.000 UK workers! Its retail
and food outlets, we are spoilt for choice. It has now developed into the
largest trading block in the world. Quite rightly there needs to be a type of
governance and this is when it becomes political as governance is always
political unless there is cohesion. Cohesion can only come about on the rarest
occasions by strong leadership and grounded principles and steering us
toward a common objective. And yet it is those that govern often set the rules,
put structures in place and makes the decisions. Luckily if things start to go
wrong we developed a system initiated by the ancient Greeks better known as
democracy where if we don’t like these rules imposed on us, well let’s then
vote these rule makers out! This might work at national level. At
European level, it appears we may have a long way to go….
Like any corporation has corporate governance, a single
market requires governance. This is so we can all produce and trade fairly on
more or less equal terms and so on, by maintaining good neighbourly relations
whilst not getting ahead of ourselves. It is that governance linked to our
trade that requires a common interest therefore requires a supranational
interest resulting into what is commonly known as a loss of sovereignty.
Herewith lays the conflict?
Not least because Britain prides itself as a sovereign state,
a parliamentary government supported by the rule of law and headed by a Constitutional
Monarch, our Supreme Governor. Even our legal system is different to our
European counterparts. As a nation it has always strived in competition and
entrepreneurship which our European counterparts remain somewhat adverse to.
This therefore poses a direct challenge in that if we want to produce, trade,
and have the free movement of goods, service and now people, common sense
dictates that we would need supranational governance.
The Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of
Ministers exists on this basis. If for example the Commission identifies a
barrier within its own common market and borders resulting to unfair
competition or poor practice, it readily acts, it steers and it legislates. A
useful example is the elimination of EU mobile roaming charges that is directly
beneficial to the consumer. Another example is the EU 2020 climate initiative
in order for the EU to reach a reduction in CO2 emissions. When it becomes law,
it is either called a Regulation or a Directive. Regulation is a binding
regulatory act and is directly applicable in the entire EU and a Directive is
an objective directly implemented into the National Parliaments.
It might worth pointing out that The
Commission mostly prepares proposals for legislation based on
identified needs. Needs are assessed from what’s called an 'impact assessment'. The lobbyists from automotive,
agriculture, pharma, and NGO’s for example are known as so called
stakeholders or special interests. They are either just being heard or
protecting their interests. As per when a proposal comes about, they are passed
onto two equal chambers; the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.
They in turn debate, change, modify or scrap as they are not obliged to approve
it. Note before proposal is shown to the two chamber system it is automatically
shown to National Parliaments where it can already be vetoed.
In short as a fervent European at heart I am somewhat
disillusioned with Europe. Many of my French, Dutch and German friends too and
economically we have run out of ideas. Has it become overly bureaucratic with
many careerists that negate rather than create? Has it lost its founding
principles, its cohesiveness, its motive therefore its purpose resulting into a
potential crisis of confidence whilst becoming a 'soft' touch? Has it
reached a type of plateau, caught in a rut between its own comfort zone and its
need to streamline and reform? How can it become stronger, more accountable and
in which direction?
Somehow we need to find a new way to bridge with each other
in our advance forward and for the private sector to kick off. If it is
no longer coal and steel what other natural resources do we have? What other
areas of expertise and sectors can we pool together, produce and then trade?
Great strides are being made in areas such as renewable energy, infrastructure,
biotechnology and utilities. Can 'Finance' play a pivotal role in this type of
bridge building by becoming a verb? Could we ever build the world’s longest
suspension bridge over the channel with an electric motorway with the help of some of our
migrants? We have the ingenuity, the expertise, the resources and even the
money. After all the ECB and BoE print money do they not?
Before I digress, a sensible approach might be that Britain
needs to be involved in order to help steer it into a new direction and
influence this reform as that is where our main interests
lie despite the EU's shortcomings. Better the devil you know.
Others might say that Europe is failing anyway and with Britain leaving, this
will provide a shock and the EU will be forced to change. We may learn to
regret this not least if Scotland decides to rejoin. If we leave we will
survive and at least we can take some comfort in having left behind for the
benefit of our European counterparts the use of the English language commonly
spoken within the wider corridors of the EU.
Interestingly in the past whilst attending our global
partnership meetings I had quietly observed my global colleagues. The Brits
were jokingly hanging out with the more boorish Americans and Australians.
The Dutch tagged along with the Brits. The French stood politely amongst each
other. The Scandinavians were understated, and reserved. The Italians and
Spanish were happy go lucky. The Russians were always helpful. And everyone
appeared to like the Germans. In terms of our bridging are we really any
more detached than others?
Be strong, be connected, be British,
be European !
