Freedom of movement within the EU : Angela Merkel rejects David Cameron’s proposals

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/02/angela-merkel-warns-david-cameron-german-chancellor-uk-prime-minister-unskilled-migrants

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2817630/Cameron-forced-tear-plan-cap-EU-migration-Merkel-warns-point-no-return-Britain.html

Briefly, Angela Merkel has told David Cameron that she would rather see the UK leave the EU than re-negotiate EU rules to restrict the freedom of EU nationals to work anywhere in the EU.  The above articles from both the Guardian and the Daily Mail report this in substantially the same way.  I cannot criticise the Daily Mail for the tone of their article – it was reasonable.

I am not a politician and, though I am keen to learn more, so far I know only the basics about the EU.  I always thought that membership of the EU involved the fundamental right for EU nationals to work in any other EU country. So I was surprised to see David Cameron making a pitch to limit this right.  This would involve a treaty change and so the consent of every other EU nation.  Some nations require a domestic referendum to approve proposed treaty changes.  So Mr Cameron’s proposals would have required an awful lot of hard work, delicate negotiation and a lot of time.

What Mrs Merkel’s response indicates to me is that David Cameron has shown quite a high degree of political naivete with this policy proposal. The reaction of Mrs Merkel, other senior European politicians and other UK politicians that this idea would never be supported is predictable.  I question Mr Cameron’s ability to build effective relationships with our European partners (whether or not the UK stays in the EU).  

Mr Cameron’s tactics are not improving.  He has already shown his naivete in the areas of the recently requested budget top-up and his isolation in opposing the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as the next president of the European Commission.

What is clear is that the free movement of workers is a fundamental principle of EU membership which will not be up for negotiation.  If we leave the EU, it will be up to the British people and politicians what we do about free movement of workers. It is likely that, like Norway, we will still wish to be part of the EFTA common market and this again will involve the same freedom of movement of workers. 

Why I want the UK to leave the EU : my EU-sceptic testimony

I am a 42 year-old married man living in Birmingham.  I am English.  I worked for 12 years as a solicitor and I am now re-training to be a teacher of English to international students.

I am pro-European – there are lots of things I love about Europe.  One of my passions is classical music. I love Saint-Saens (French), Strauss (Austrian), Beethoven (German), Vivaldi (Italian), Rodrigo (Spanish) and Vivaldi (Italian).  All these composers came from countries now in the EU.  I also love the music of Greig (Norwegian) and Tchaikovsky (Russian) who came from countries outside the EU.

When it comes to politics, I am on the centre-left.  During my life, I have voted for the Conservatives, Lib Dems, Labour and Greens.  I am not a member of any party but I will only vote for candidates who are in favour of scrapping Trident which is a very important issue for me, especially now that the next government will need to decide whether to replace Trident at a cost of around £100 bn. 

I also think we should work in a friendly way with other countries in Europe and around the world in areas where it is useful for us and them, like migration, international crime and peacekeeping.  I don’t believe that we need to do this as part of a permanent international organisation made up of 28 very different countries.  This is not because I think that people who work for EU institutions are not professional – I am sure they are -   it is because I don’t believe that the institutions of the EU are democratic enough.

 

For me, it’s not enough to vote for an MEP once every 5 years but then to leave most European decisions in the hands of the leaders of the EU countries and the European Commission.  I like to think I’m well- informed about politics but quite often, I can’t get my head round what the EU is doing at any one moment in time and how this relates to my ordinary life.  Politics can be complex but, for me, if decisions are made too far away from home, then I lose interest. This apathy is a bad sign.  I believe that the institutions of the European Union have too much power in too many areas.  They have bitten off more than they can chew and there is no sign of them wanting to return power to member states.

I recently read in the news that the EU is negotiating a new international trade deal with the USA called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). I had not heard about this at the last General Election and I don’t think it was a big issue then. I found out that the TTIP talks were being held by EU and USA officials in secret and without consultation with the people of the EU about various important issues.   It was only when details were leaked that the EU was embarrassed into consulting the public. 

I then found out more about TTIP.  The authority for the deal in the EU came from the Council of Ministers i.e. all the EU leaders.  The details of the deal will be hammered out by EU officials on our behalf and then the European Parliament will only have a vote on whether or not to accept or reject the whole deal.  I know there is controversy about whether or not TTIP will mean that the NHS could be opened up to more privatisation, but even after reading about it, I don’t know if I should be worried or not.  It’s a big unknown as far as I am concerned.  

At any rate, I don’t know how TTIP will impact my life in practice and I fear that I will only really find out several years down the line, by which time it will be too late for me to do anything about it.  This is exactly the kind of “democratic deficit” that makes me feel frustrated and fed up with what the EU does. 

The EU is going one way only – towards further integration.  The UK can try to slow this process down but it doesn’t have the enough influence to do this for very long or to reverse the overall direction.  That's fair enough - we're just one country of 28.  But it's not a price I want us to pay.  Also, the countries who want closer integration are fed up with the UK’s lukewarm approach to the EU. It’s not good for us either.

We need to make up our mind. If we vote to stay in, then we should stop complaining about the EU, embrace the move towards greater political union wholeheartedly and play a constructive part in that process.  Or we should get out while we have the chance and rebuild our relations with EU countries in a positive but different way.  I want us to get out.

There is a crisis in British democracy.  Voting turnouts have been getting lower every General Election in recent years.  More and more people are getting fed up with Westminster politics.  The EU is not the only problem with our democracy but it’s a big part of the problem and if we get the chance to vote to leave the EU, we should take it.  We should bring back democracy to our country and sort out our problems ourselves.  I think leaving the EU will make us better Europeans.

The EU-sceptic pledge

We are people who live in the United Kingdom and want our country to leave the European Union as soon as possible. 

At the same time: 

1. We recognise that the people of the United Kingdom are no better or worse than any other people in Europe or in fact, any other country in the world.
   
   
2. We respect, recognise and appreciate the value of all European peoples, cultures and democratic political traditions. We have much in common with them and will always have much to learn from them.
   
   
3. We recognise the need for the people of the UK to work constructively, honourably and amicably with our European neighbours on many issues for common benefit. We would prefer to do this from outside the European Union.
   
   
4. We recognise that the officials of the institutions of the European Union aim to serve equally all the peoples of the European Union – including the people of the United Kingdom. Our desire to leave the European Union is no reflection on the professionalism, goodwill and dedication of those officials. We are grateful for their efforts to improve the quality of our lives.
   
   
5. We absolutely condemn and oppose all forms of racial discrimination which has no part to play in our political opposition to the UK’s membership of the European Union.
   
   
6. We believe that the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union should be conducted respectfully. We condemn and oppose all personal insults aimed at politicians or officials of the European Union or at any of our political opponents.
   
   
7. While we acknowledge that EU membership is an emotive subject, we reject all forms of sensational comment, exaggeration and overly-emotive reaction to political issues connected with the debate about EU membership.
   
   
8. To reflect our positive attitude towards Europe, we prefer to describe ourselves as “EU-sceptics” and not “Eurosceptics”.
   
    
9. We believe that as soon as the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, the European Union will lose an unhappy member and gain a friendly neighbour.
   
   
10. We look forward to a positive future for the United Kingdom outside the European Union which will include friendly relations with all its member states.

Welcome to EU-sceptics Anonymous!

Hello and welcome to "EU-sceptics Anonymous" which, as the name suggests, is a blog aimed at promoting the cause of EU-scepticism in the UK.

I say "EU-scepticism" and not "Euroscepticism" for a reason.  I am very much pro-Europe.  I can speak a reasonable level of French and Spanish and I'm learning Italian.  I love many kinds of European culture, food and music. I teach English to many lovely people from various European countries, most of which are in the EU.  I like travelling in Europe and love in particular Florence and Granada.

At the same time, I am a proud Englishman who is fed up with the European Union and wants England to get out of the EU as soon as possible.  I say "England" for a reason too because I am English first.  In my view, the other nations of the UK should be able to choose independence and make their own choices about EU membership as separate states.

While I am clear in my political preferences that England should leave the EU, I am quite often exasperated at the level of debate about EU matters from the EU-sceptic side.  There is too much sensationalism, exaggeration, hysteria and even insults and abuse hurled around.  And I don't just mean on the internet by "John Bull" types.  I have heard UKIP politicians make unprofessional and insulting comments about EU figures and other political opponents which have made me cringe. This has to stop if we EU-sceptics are to get serious about organising ourselves properly and with discipline - and ultimately get enough support to leave the EU.

In my view, there is a mildly EU-sceptical middle-ground in the UK which we need to win over to stand a chance of securing a majority for leaving the EU if (I hope when) we get a referendum.  This middle-ground will vote more with their heads than their hearts and will not be impressed by stupid comments about the EU and Europe by EU-sceptic politicians, journalists and campaigners.

On this blog, I hope to post useful information about the EU to inform ourselves on the issues at stake.  We need to start now to be ready by 2017.  People will need time to process the issues, especially relating to the economic issues.  We can't leave it till the last few months.

If I have time, I hope also to post the occasional article celebrating some aspect of European culture.  If I don't get round to this side of things, it won't be because I don't care about European culture any more, it will just be a question of time.

Oh, and by the way, I am not a member of UKIP or any other party.  I have in my time voted for the Conservatives, Lib Dems, Labour and the Greens. I am on the centre-left and this includes a fervent belief that we should not spend £100bn in the next Parliamentary term on replacing Trident.

So thanks for reading and I hope you sign up to the "EU-sceptic" pledge which I will be posting shortly.

James