Archive for the ‘Return to Pragmatism?’ Category

Broader Vision Needed to Reform EU?

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/

A Return to Pragmatism in UK – EU Relations?

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. »