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Remainers seem to think the EU can be reformed if we stay in—here’s why we should be sceptical

On balance, I find it highly unlikely that the EU is capable of serious reform. So let's lead the way on leaving it

by Diane James / March 29, 2018 / Leave a comment
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The ambitions and mechanisms of the EU point towards an “ever greater union”. Photo: PA

Can the EU become the sort of institution that the UK wants to remain a member of? Remainers seem to think so—but I’m not so sure.

The Remain camp continually argues for staying in a reformed EU. Whilst acknowledging that the EU was and is far from perfect, they maintain that, if the UK stayed a member, we could push forward a process of internal reform leading to a more satisfactory non-Brexit future.

I call those who advocate this argument the Reluctant Remainers. Theirs is still a valid proposition, given the push for a second vote, and should be considered carefully.

What would “reform” actually mean?

It is difficult to nail down exactly what could be meant by a reformed EU, and which areas require reform, but I will give it a go.

Firstly, as sovereignty was a key determining factor for voters, would a future EU be prepared to roll back its ambitions with regards to further control over national decision-making?

The answer to this, at least, is relatively straightforward. It is highly improbable that the EU would row back on this, as it plans its own Treasury and the creation of a Fiscal Union. It is also rolling out further and deeper integration in the energy markets via the European Energy Union, and taking greater control of the internet and e-commerce via the creation of the Digital Single Market.

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Comments

  1. _qss_id_marklegrosallen@gmail.com
    March 31, 2018 at 16:48
    The reforms that the EU needs are not well specified in this article. Most of it is clearly wrong-headed. Most of the EU's activity is directed at increasing freedom of its citizens, not restricting it. This applies to the single market, and its extension into the areas of services. Freedom to buy and sell services across Europe expands consumer freedom, and the regulatory apparatus is no more intrusive than national regulatory apparatuses, but with the advantage that the EU's strong stress on human rights protects us all. A common educational area is not a device limiting freedom, but creates the opportunity for all of us to accept each others standards and live and work anywhere within the Union. With the increased power of transnational corporations on our daily lives, the only level at which we can create countervailing power is the transnational one. This allows more democratic control than dealing with these matters at the national level. For anyone who looks carefully at the websites of the European Commission and the Parliament, the idea that decisions are largely taken in secret is laughable. There is far better access to ideas, rationales, and processes governing decisions than you will find in the UK, where indeed far too much governmental decision-making is done in private and unaccountably. Integrating the West Balkans in European structures will be of immense benefit to their peoples, and they know it. A reform that closes the door on the West Balkans is hardly in the interests of the people of Europe. We have all benefited from the integration of Central Europe and the Baltics, and the costs have been a fraction of the advantages, both to those in the west and those in the east. There is always a reform agenda to pursue, and that is true in the EU too. The creation of the euro was probably a step too far, and now there is much to do to ensure that it brings benefits to all members and that the potential for economic instability be eliminated. And there is a need to try to build a responsive European politics to reflect the rise in the need to act collectively. Those are the challenges ahead, rather than retreat to a futile appeal to national sovereignty.
  2. R_HITCHMAN
    March 31, 2018 at 18:10
    I am a strong Remainer, but I agree that there is much wrong with the EU. The Euro, with the accompanying fiscal rules, and the determination of the German government that at all costs German banks and taxpayers should suffer as little as possible, ruined peripheral Europe, though at least Ireland and Spain are recovering. But we have an opt-out! Schengen has been a failure too, but we have an opt-out! Cameron secured an agreement that the ever more perfect union would not commit the UK! Immigration is reasonably a sensitive issue. See ‘The Road to Somewhere’. But Nick Clegg claims that the EU was willing to discuss the issue, after the Brexit vote, and in view of his strong EU connexions, I doubt that he is making it up. He did after all work for the Commission for some years, and I should think that he has his ears to the ground in Brussels. Lastly, it is not only the UK whose voters are disenchanted with the strongly integrationist dogmas at present dominant in Brussels, including N. European politicians who will never consent to further bail-outs implied by the Macron programme. So I agree that European integration as envisaged by the Juncker faction is many decades premature, if it ever is sensible. But I doubt whether they will be able to have their way for a long time, and we could avoid the worst of the consequences if, after all, we remained in the EU.

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About this author

Diane James
Diane James MEP was elected to the European Parliament in 2014 for UKIP. Following a brief stint as Leader Elect of the Party she resigned from UKIP in November 2016 and now sits as an Independent MEP for South East England.

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