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.
