The EU after Bremain: Kiss and make up? by Ian Bond
What happens if Britain votes decisively on June 23rd to stay in the EU? None of the EU’s other problems – the economy, the Syrian conflict, the refugee crisis or Russian sabre-rattling – will be solved. European leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, could pretend that the referendum never happened and resume fire-fighting. British ministers will have a mandate to re-engage with the EU. But will it be a mandate to remain Europe’s curmudgeon, or to be more ambitious? Home Secretary Theresa May, previously eurosceptic though now arguing for staying, said in April “we have become so used to being in this permanently defensive crouch that ...Britain has forgotten how to stand up and lead”. That is an exaggeration. But since the prime minister proposed an in-out referendum, ministers have indeed been less active in the EU, even in traditional areas of British influence like foreign policy. Some member-states may resent Britain trying to lead the EU with the zeal of the convert. But the UK can be a force for good in the EU when it commits itself to a project – as with the single market in the 1980s. So here are ten areas in which the UK can bring a new positive tone to its EU membership. Security and counter-terrorism In the campaign, Cameron has stressed the EU’s contribution to Britain’s security. Other memberstates may have been irritated by Britain withdrawing from justice and home affairs
measures in 2013, only to opt back into the most important; but the UK remains a crucial partner in fighting crime and terrorism. UK expertise could help the EU to construct a data sharing and privacy regime able to withstand challenges in the European Court of Justice. Migration Though outside the Schengen borderless area, Britain cannot escape the impact of the refugee crisis. The UK has argued that giving asylum seekers legal channels to come to Europe would ruin the people smugglers’ business model; it should both set an example by resettling refugees in Britain, and persuade Central Europeans to take more. Defence Britain will not back an EU army; but it should support more EU collaboration in operational intelligence sharing (for example, to target people smugglers in Libya), logistics (including pooling of air-to-air refuelling tankers and strategic lift) and defence research (including an increased budget for the European Defence Agency).