Awkward partners…but still married

Kirsty Hughes takes a look at the UK’s relationship with the EU now that Gordon Brown has taken over the reins at 10 Downing Street.

In the Eurostar lounge at Brussels’ Gare du Midi, videoclips anticipate the ‘1 hour 51 minute’ service to London’s new terminal, St Pancras International, under the heading "London closer and closer". But after the deal on an EU reform treaty struck at the 21-23 June summit, many are questioning if London and the rest of the UK are rather receding further to the margins of the Union.

As one German official, Peter Altmaier, put it at a conference in London on 12 July: "France got cosmetic changes [to the treaty], the Poles transitional ones and the UK substantive ones." But, while complimenting UK diplomats on getting a pile of British ‘red lines’ through three times over (once when the EU constitution was drafted, by the European convention, once during the intergovernmental conference that approved a final constitution text and lastly at the June summit), Altmaier added: "Is such cherry-picking really in the UK’s interests?"

UK Liberal Democrat MEP Andrew Duff, one of three European Parliament representatives on the intergovernmental conference which was launched on Monday (23 July) to draft the new reform treaty, said it was not. "The UK has effectively designed for itself a second-class membership of the EU," said Duff.

A French diplomat agreed: "The UK has marginalised itself through all its opting-outs and it will make the idea of a ‘core Europe’ without it more likely."

But Gary Titley, leader of the UK Socialist (Labour) MEPs, called arguments about a second-tier membership "a bit of hysteria". "I get very angry with some of this talk…it was France and the Netherlands who rejected the [constitutional] treaty not us," he said.

Socialist MEP Richard Corbett, who in 2004 co-drafted Parliament’s report on the EU constitution, also rejected the argument that the UK would be left behind. "It is important that Britain is not regarded again as the ‘awkward partner’ in Europe - a stance by successive Conservative governments that saw us marginalised," he said.

Back in London, British EU observers appear rather sanguine at the UK’s current position. Stephen Wall, former EU adviser to then prime minister Tony Blair and before that the UK’s permanent representative to the EU, argued that different speeds of integration have been a reality in the EU for a long time. "We’ve lived with two-speed Europe for quite a while, including Schengen and the euro," he said, referring to the fact that the UK chose to stay out of the passport-free Schengen area and of the single currency.

Another former British permanent representative to Brussels and secretary to the convention which drafted the EU constitution, John Kerr, said that Britain would not be isolated in the EU, although opted out of several key EU projects. "I don’t think it will be 26 against 1. We probably won’t be in some actions since we’re not in the euro but the group not in will be different - and so it will be a variable geometry," he said.

Meanwhile, British Eurosceptics argue that the opt-outs from the treaty are worthless. These critics are demanding a referendum, something Prime Minister Gordon Brown is unlikely to concede. Neil O’Brien, director of Eurosceptic think-tank Open Europe, said that the new treaty represented a "significant transfer of power to the European level…such as the creation of a European president and ‘foreign minister’". He added that the opt-out from the charter of fundamental rights secured by the UK was not "worth anything".

And James Clappison, a Conservative member of the House of Commons’ European scrutiny committee, said that the treaty was "very clear evidence of the EU moving towards a political union and taking on the characteristics of a nation state". He promised "a vigorous debate in the House [of Commons]" and said the government’s refusal to organise a referendum on the treaty would be "a breach of faith".

But one pro-European Tory commentator suggested that David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, was "going through the motions on the referendum issue and has not really got his heart in it". The commentator agreed that "Europe still divides the Tories".

Corbett said that "the Conservatives have called for a referendum to hide their divisions on Europe, while the well-financed [sceptic] campaign hopes a referendum will… engineer a British withdrawal from the EU".

There are a few British voices arguing against the treaty opt-outs, one being the trade unions. Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), said: "I am somewhat bemused by Labour ministers who return from Europe triumphant that they have resisted attempts to give their citizens more rights." One Labour insider said that some British trade unions may call for a referendum on the treaty at the Labour Party conference in September because of anger at the opt-out obtained by the UK on the charter.

Nick Clegg, a Liberal Democrat member of the UK parliament, has argued that the UK’s position of "yelling against the dastardly powers of the EU one moment and then furtively acting as the cheerleader for new EU security policies is neither coherent nor honest". He said the UK’s policy was to "say ‘Yes’ to all security measures, say ‘No’ to new protections of civil and judicial rights".

Stephen Wall called the opt-outs "a necessary evil to avoid a situation where the pressure for a referendum was unavoidable" and suggested that the charter opt-out "was probably necessary for the support of the business community".

At the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) Brussels office, principal policy adviser Sean McGuire said: "These opt-outs are in key areas protecting very specific and sensitive British issues and interests."

He added: "We felt [the charter] would have damaged the UK’s flexible labour market, especially the rights to strike and collective bargaining."

The CBI takes no position on a referendum - "a political issue" - but appears rather happy with the UK’s EU policies and even with the Union: "It is the most pro-business [European] Commission to date…We are very strong supporters of the internal market and the Lisbon reform process, so we see ourselves at the heart of the Union."

The TUC, whose overriding concern, according to Barber, is "can the Union respond to working people’s concern about globalisation and provide them with the security they need in a competitive and fast-changing world?" will be little reassured by the UK’s Europe Minister, Jim Murphy. At a Centre for European Reform conference on 12 July, Murray said: "We need to embrace globalisation enthusiastically…so we want the Lisbon employment programme back on track…[including] light regulation…and active and flexible labour markets."

Brown is expected to continue the British focus on the fight against climate change, on energy security and deregulation, and the emphasis on development and liberal trade policies. But Stephen Wall said that Blair "for all he got seduced by America, did think Europe was where Britain’s interests lay, but I don’t think Gordon Brown thinks in those terms".

But John Kerr disagreed. "The Brown government is full of a new generation who are Europeans and think of Britain in Europe…as naturally as their city is in the UK," he said.

And at least Brown was off to see German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy before meeting US President George W. Bush.

Under Brown, it seems, the UK will stick to its view of a liberal, free-market, outward-looking Union, while the British public will remain suspicious of the EU’s political intentions. And despite its pile of opt-outs, the UK will remain a tough negotiating partner.

What the UK people think

The UK public remain among the most sceptical in the Union. Whether asked about benefits from EU membership, the EU’s image or whether the EU is a good thing, the UK public is among the three most critical of the 27 member states. In the UK, 39% think the EU is a good thing, more than Austria’s 36% but the UK has the largest proportion of people - 30% - who think the Union is a bad thing. The UK is the only member state where more citizens distrust both the Commission and European Parliament than trust them.

(Data from Eurobarometer 67, June 2007)

• Kirsty Hughes is a freelance journalist based in the UK.

Kirsty Hughes takes a look at the UK’s relationship with the EU now that Gordon Brown has taken over the reins at 10 Downing Street.