Archive for the ‘Referendum on EU Membership’ Category
jeudi, mars 12th, 2015
Laura Sandys who has written the article linked to below is Member of Parliament for South Thanet and Chair of European Movement, UK.
« In the lead up to one of the most important elections of recent decades and, potentially, one of the most important debates about the UK?s political arrangements we have ever seen, it is crucial that we are constantly talking and thinking about the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, two great entities that can do so much for each other when they work in tandem, cooperatively and positively. »
Why Europe matters
Tags:2015 Election, EU Referendum, EU Reforms, Europe, Eurosceptics, UKIP
Posted in Broader Vision for EU Reforms, Freedom of Movement in EU, Ken Clark & PM's EU Reforms, Referendum on EU Membership, What about UKIP, Why Europe matters | No Comments »
vendredi, janvier 9th, 2015
Here’s a provocative article from Daniel Hannan MEP questioning nine myths about the EU, including securing peace in Europe, World’s largest free trade market, boosts competition, underpins democracy, force for good, necessary for countries to work together, increases prosperity, provides collective clout and high- water mark of federalism.
http://www.conservativehome.com/thecolumnists/2015/01/daniel-hannan-mep-nine-myths-about-the-eu.html
Tags:Daniel hannan, European Union
Posted in Britain in Europe, Broader Vision for EU Reforms, Debate Federal Europe, EU Myths, Federal EU?, Referendum on EU Membership | No Comments »
lundi, décembre 8th, 2014
The Conservative party still needs to project a broader vision of the future of the European Union (EU), if it wants to reform it?
Katharina Klebba writing in LabourList (see article linked to below) thinks:
« A British reform agenda has to be rooted in a wider vision of the role the EU should play in the coming decade. The British public appears at the very least to be sceptical of the idea of an ?ever closer union?.
Yet the realities of monetary union are such that closer integration among the euro countries is almost inevitable ? a development that the UK appears to equally resent.
Therefore, timid proposals on restrictions to the freedom of movement of EU migrants may satisfy some public concerns but they won?t address many of the more fundamental anxieties of the British public regarding the EU.
Currently all three major parties are committed to Britain remaining an EU member if the UK?s demands for reform are met yet the terms of such a membership appear unclear. »
http://labourlist.org/2014/12/if-we-want-to-reform-the-eu-we-need-a-broader-vision-of-its-future/
Tags:British politics, Conservative Party, EU Referendum, EU Reforms
Posted in Broader Vision for EU Reforms, EU Value not just Price, Freedom of Movement in EU, Ken Clark & PM's EU Reforms, Millibands Non-Referendum Pledge, No Effective EU Debate, Referendum on EU Membership, Return to Pragmatism?, Tories & Europe, Welcome | No Comments »
jeudi, novembre 27th, 2014
The intervention below from Ken Clark, complements very nicely the previous article by BCiP member Robin Baker on « Freedom of movement within the EU ».
Speaking at The Guardian on 19th November, 2014 and concerning British Prime Minister David Cameron’s EU reform plans, Ken Clark the former Conservative Chancellor said:
» fellow EU leaders would not agree to change the free movement of people on the grounds that it is a fundamental tenet of the EU and had been championed by Thatcher in the creation of the single market. »
He added:
?The idea that you are going to make Brussels give up freedom of movement of labour ? Margaret Thatcher was an advocate of this. It was a British Conservative government that gave momentum to the single market.
?The Conservative party and the Labour party have been advocates of freedom of movement of goods, services, capital and labour. It is one of the underpinning things of greater prosperity that we are all trying to get back to.?
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/nov/19/ken-clarke-lets-rip-at-david-camerons-eu-reform-plans
Tags:Conservative Party, EU Freedom of Movement, EU Referendum, Eurosceptics, UKIP
Posted in Freedom of Movement in EU, Ken Clark & PM's EU Reforms, Referendum on EU Membership, To Be or Not in EU, Tories & Europe, Welcome, What about UKIP | No Comments »
jeudi, novembre 6th, 2014
The freedom of movement of workers within the Community and the freedom of establishment of nationals of one member state within the territory of another are, as we are frequently reminded, fundamental principles established by the then EEC in 1957 and maintained by the European Union today.
Currently they are increasingly questioned by the Eurosceptic wing of the Conservative Party. To me that means that is has become time to go back and ask why these principles were established.
There are two key reasons. One is the question of individual liberty. Governments should not dictate to citizens where they can go and where they can live and work. The benefit of that hardly needs emphasising to UK members of British Conservatives in Paris; we take advantage of it either just to live or to both live and work here. Many French citizens do the same in Great Britain.
The second is that this liberty is an economic benefit, to individuals and to the economy of Europe as a whole. It permits workers, particularly the most motivated and the most valuable among them, to go where the contribution that they make is most valued and most appreciated. That maximises the economic benefit that they make to Europe as a whole. Many of the French who work in the UK are a good example of this. Their economic contribution is more appreciated in our country because our lower level of bureaucracy enables it to flourish and bear fruit whereas in France it could be stifled by control and regulation. That benefits the French concerned, the UK in general and in time it may benefit France itself if it eventually forces the Government here to reduce their regulatory controls.
What I do not understand is how any Conservative can oppose these principles of individual liberty and the prevention of government imposed rules leading to sub-economic decisions. Both are fundamental to the Conservative Party. In the 1960s and 70s, leaders of the Conservative Party such as Macmillan and Heath understood that. These principles need re-asserting now so that our political leaders can learn to understand them again.
Robin Baker
BCiP Member
Tags:2015 Election, Conservative Party, EU Freedom of Movement, EU Referendum, Eurosceptics
Posted in Beware UKIP Bigotry, Britain in Europe, Cameron & Old Tories, Freedom of Movement in EU, Referendum on EU Membership, Tories & Europe, UKIP/Tory Rhetoric on Immigration | No Comments »
samedi, octobre 18th, 2014
Read this interesting article below published on www.europeanpublicaffairs.eu :
« The outcome of misinformation on the one hand and total resignation of pro-EU advocates on the other has resulted in one thing ? Europeans have learnt the cost but forgot the value of the EU membership. »
Why Holding an EU Referendum May Be a Good Idea After All: Learning the value of the EU not just its price
15 October 2014 | by Frank Markovic
Tags:EU Referendum, Eurosceptics, UKIP
Posted in Britain in Europe, EU Value not just Price, No Effective EU Debate, Referendum on EU Membership, To Be or Not in EU, Tories & Europe, Welcome, What about UKIP | No Comments »
jeudi, juillet 17th, 2014
Here’s an article by Thomas Fillis and published on-line in European Public Affairs:
A Return to Pragmatism? Lord Hill announced as UK Commissioner Designate
« British Prime Minister David Cameron has just announced Jonathan Hopkin Hill, Baron Hill of Oareford (ergo Lord Hill) as the British Commissioner designate. This nomination may prove to be the most important in UK-EU relations, and indeed in the history of the College of Commissioners, given the ever-more precarious position of the UK within the European Union. The choice will speak volumes about Cameron?s strategic calculations, as regards his proposed ?renegotiation? (a concept as abstract as the constantly mooted, but never defined, ?reform? of the EU) and the negotiating tactics he will use. »
Tags:Conservative Party, EU Referendum, Eurosceptics, UKIP
Posted in EU Ref. :A History Lesson, France's Political Earthquake, FT: Voters General Yes to EU, Millibands Non-Referendum Pledge, No Effective EU Debate, PMs Europe Speech - Gregor Dallas, Referendum on EU Membership, Return to Pragmatism? | No Comments »
mardi, juin 24th, 2014
A French message to Britain: get out of Europe before you wreck it!
This article by French Socialist and former Prime Minister Michel Rocard was published in Le Monde on 5th June, 2014 and then on-line in English in The Guardian (www.the guardian.com) on 6th June, 2014.
« The European Union is on its knees but you, the British, want to block even small steps to democratic legitimacy. »
« Now you pretend to want to exit; the majority of your people are in no doubt about it. But you have a banking interest in remaining to capitalise on the disorder that you have helped to create.
So go before you wreck everything.
There was a time when being British was synonymous with elegance. Let us rebuild Europe. Regain your elegance and you will regain our esteem. »
Posted in Britain in Europe, British EU Veto, Cameron & Eurozone, Cameron & Old Tories, Federal EU?, France's Political Earthquake, French Message to Britain, Referendum on EU Membership | No Comments »
lundi, juin 2nd, 2014
Benedict Brogan writing today (click on the link below) in his political blog (The Telegraph on-line, 2nd June, 2014) thinks interventions by Tony Blair and Angela Merkel leave PM David Cameron in a perilous position on Europe.
According to Mr Brogan
« Downing Street has denied German claims that David Cameron said Britain would leave the EU if Jean-Claude Juncker is chosen as president, but that hasn’t stopped them being widely reported. »
« Accompanying the headlines is a sense that Mr Cameron has gone public too early on Britain’s opposition to the Luxembourg federalist. »
[particularly as it is also reported today that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is already working to gather support for the candidacy of Mr Junker.]
In addition, Tony Blair has entered the debate with a speech to the CBI this morning in which he will try to put himself as the head of the « Save Europe » movement. According to Mr Blair:
« It has to be a debate elevated to a Europe-wide level, with Britain playing a leading role, not just a negotiation of Britain’s terms of membership. It has to be about what is good for Europe as well as what is good for Britain. »
Benedict Brogan thinks that all this makes the Prime Minister
« vulnerable to the charge that his position on Europe is not a big strategic argument based on principles, but a series of carefully judged tactical gambits designed to keep one step ahead of Nigel Farage [of UKIP] and numbers of his backbenchers. »
Mr Cameron has chosen to make his stand against Mr Junker, and perhaps has been misquoted in suggesting this as a break point for future UK membership of the EU, but will need the support of Germany to succeed. Without the support of Mrs Merkel he seems to have put himself into a perilous position.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/benedictbrogan/100274299/blair-and-merkel-leave-cameron-in-a-perilous-position/
Tags:Conservative Party, EU Referendum, Eurosceptics, UKIP
Posted in Referendum on EU Membership, Tories & Europe, Welcome, What about UKIP | No Comments »
vendredi, mars 21st, 2014
Lord Ashcroft thinks (see link to his article below) that the Conservative party should not be misled by Labour leader Ed. Milliband’s recent non-pledge on an EU referendum, when his polling has found that:
« Tory voters are twice as likely as Labour voters, and UKIP voters three times as likely, to say that defending Britain?s interests in Europe is one of the most important issues facing the country. »
« By putting the referendum pledge at the front and centre of its 2015 campaign the Conservative Party would not only be missing the chance to talk about the things most voters care about more, like the economy, jobs and public services. It would also, as far as these voters are concerned, be proving again the out-of-touchness (outness of touch?) of which it has for so long been accused. That is the trap Ed Miliband has set for the Tories. Surely they won?t be so daft as to fall into it? »
http://lordashcroftpolls.com/2014/03/milibands-referendum-non-pledge-will-win-votes-labour-conservatives-let/#more-2686
Tags:2015 Election, Conservative Party, EU Referendum
Posted in Merkel EU Lobby for UK, Merkel in London, Millibands Non-Referendum Pledge, Referendum on EU Membership, The Wrong Battle, To Be or Not in EU, Tories & Europe, Welcome | No Comments »