Hört auf die Briten (und Open Europe)!

One of the constant frustrations at Open Europe is that the EU debate  is too often artificially framed between two camps: "in at any cost" and "out at any price."

That media likes a good shouting match is nothing new, but the biggest victim from framing the debate in such a way is substance. UK media and politics are inherently adversarial, following the logic of two politicians debating over the despatch box. It has its charm and benefits, but when translated to European politics it doesn't quite work, primarily because there are many positions on Europe, with the majority position still being staying in a heavily reformed Europe.

As we noted before, for their part, European media are often far too keen to simply copy the artificial two-camp narrative, leading to a conversation of the deaf.

This may now be changing slowly.  Earlier this year, Open Europe and the Fresh Start group of MPs brought together 400 of Europe's leading reformers at our EU Reform Conference to discuss the next steps. After all, saying reform is necessary without the policy to back it up is all talk and no trousers.

Which is why it's encouraging to see John F. Jungclaussen, the London correspondent for German weekly, Die Zeit, noting that:

There are not only shrill tones in the cacophony of the British Europe debate. In the lower frequencies, there are contributions which Europe should urgently listen to. They come from a group of parliamentarians from both Houses [of Parliament] and different parties that joined efforts because they want to engage constructively. Together with the think tank Open Europe, they develop concrete reform proposals which are just as pragmatic as they are meaningful.

Jungclaussen cites Open Europe’s report showing that further liberalising the EU’s services markets would produce a permanent increase to EU-wide GDP of up to 2.3% or €294bn, as a "particularly good example" of one such proposal.

Jungclaussen's piece shows that this more nuanced understanding of the debate carries traction, not only in the UK, but across Europe.

Is the Tory Party becoming its own worst enemy in Europe?

Our Director Mats Persson writes on his Telegraph blog:

Many commentators have rightly noted that infighting over the EU and immigration could cost the Conservatives the 2015 general election. There's a second dimension to this, however: by tearing itself apart, ironically, the Tory Party also risks becoming a greater obstacle to the new settlement in Europe (that a vast majority of its MPs want) than anyone in Paris or Brussels.

Make no mistake: if that In/Out EU referendum comes in 2017, the Tory Party will – as Virginians say – split like a Baptist Church. I reckon there are about 30 Tory MPs who are “out no matter what”, 20 who are “in at any cost” and the rest are “swing voters” who would probably prefer to stay in a heavily reformed EU. Most Tory MPs will make up their minds based on what deal David Cameron can get in Europe.

Remember though, it’s not unusual for parties to split over Europe – particularly if referenda are involved. In part, this is a sign of a functioning democracy. In the 2003 Swedish referendum on the Euro, the governing Social Democrats were deeply split, with Ministers from the same government even campaigning on different sides. The French socialists were infamously divided over the European Constitution and in the 1975 EU referendum in the UK, Labour was all over the place.

Cameron yesterday again fought off a Tory EU rebellion, with two amendments to the Immigration Bill being backed by significant numbers of MPs. Dominic Raab’s amendment in particular – limiting the grounds on which foreign criminals can appeal deportation – encapsulated the ongoing clash between European "rule of law" (in this case the ECHR, not the EU) and Parliamentary democracy. It would be odd for the Tories not to discuss this, and it was a fully legitimate amendment.

However, there clearly comes a point when the Tory Party can become its own worst enemy in Europe. It's one thing for the Tories to split when that referendum comes, another to rob itself of the very opportunity to test the limits of EU reform ahead of the vote.

There's a vicious circle at play here. The UK media never seems to get tired of Tory split stories. It only takes a handful of vocal backbench MPs to create a “Tory rebellion” headline. English being the lingua franca, European politicians and commentators read the UK press, drawing the conclusion that, this is really all about a party talking to itself about itself. The many good reform ideas coming out of the UK are dismissed as a matter of “domestic politics” – an image happily (sometimes dishonestly) conveyed by a whole host of special interests, including those who have invested personal prestige in the EU project and seek to maintain the status quo. Cameron, meanwhile, is seen as an unreliable partner not in control at home. This perception is then fed back to the UK press, as a sign that Cameron is “isolated”, in turn hardening backbench opinion.

How to avoid this? Backbenchers need to be aware that every split – manufactured or real – reverberates far beyond the UK’s borders, often working against their ultimate objective. When the UK presents a united front, it often wins in Europe. Secondly, as I’ve argued before, Cameron just has to stop jumping from headline to headline. He’s giving his European partners whiplash. Finally, European commentators and politicians themselves need to be more intellectually honest. Surely, beyond the headlines, they must understand that the UK’s Europe debate is multi-faceted. Don’t use the Tories as an excuse not to engage on substance in the crucial debate about how to reform Europe.

Day 1 of the #EUReform conference: All about substance

Day one of the Open Europe / Fresh Start #EUreform conference covered an enormous amount of ground - kicking off with UK Chancellor George Osborne's widely cited "reform or decline" speech.

300 reformers eager to get on with it, and it was all about substance.

Below are some pictures from the first day.

The Rt Hon. George Osborne giving the opening keynote speech

Reform Lesson from Central and Eastern Europe: Open Europe Berlin's Nora Hesse, Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin, Estonia's Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, and former Slovakian PM Iveta Radičová

The Fresh Start MPs giving a press conference 

The breakout sessions discussed a range of ideas for how to make the EU more competitive. 

The Rt Hon. William Hague addressing the "Reformers' Reception" in the evening 

William Hague talking to a group of Swedish MPs

 

Don't say MPs don't do detail on Europe




 

Too often the UK's political discussion of the European Union is conducted by politicians, on all sides of the debate, whose strong opinions are complemented by an absence of any real understanding of or willingness to engage with the detail of individual EU policy areas. A sterile and noisy debate that ends up characterising people as 'Pro' or 'Anti'. Well today we saw something different - a group of MPs actually engaging with the nitty gritty of the EU's individual policy areas and it makes for interesting reading.

Earlier today the EU Fresh Start Group of around 100 Conservative MPs launched their manifesto - and you can't accuse them of not dealing with the substance. The manifesto sets out a blueprint for a new relationship for Britain within the EU which the group hopes will be taken on as Government or Conservative Party policy. So what does it contain?

Much of what they wish to do can be done within the EU treaties. For instance they wish to see and list significant and specific reforms to areas such as the CAP, CFP, EU budget, regional policy as well as an end to the domestic 'gold-plating' of EU regulation. All this could be done without changing the EU's rulebook. In addition, they have identified five areas where EU treaty change would be required. These are:

• An emergency brake on financial services.
• Devolution of social and employment law to the national level.
• A UK opt-out from policing and criminal justice measures not covered by block opt-out.
• A single market safeguard.
• The abolition of the second European Parliament seat.

There will be the usual refrain that 'none of this is achievable' and 'they will say no'. The truth is that we don't know how much of this will be picked up by the government or eventually accepted. But it's absolutely extraordinary that the same people who used to moan about MPs not engaging with policy on Europe, now complain about Fresh Start conducting the exercise.  

Let the best argument win.

What happens now? Well the publication and work is perfectly timed to feed into David Cameron's EU speech to end all EU speeches now due for 18 January in the Netherlands. No 10 today called the Fresh Start contribution "interesting." We will wait and see.

David Cameron with the "Fresh Start" MP Andrea Leadsom