Policy Paper
Fog in Westminster. Europe cut off
Logically and politically, it is a perfectly tenable position to argue against British membership of the European Union. There are many advocates of that position who have presented the case cogently and sincerely. As an Irishman, I profoundly disagree with this perception of Britain’s national interest as potentially lying outside the European Union. But I accept that such disagreement on my part is arguably neither here nor there. The focus of this pamphlet is rather different, on an issue in respect of which everyone who lives in this country and indeed in the other countries of the European Union has a legitimate interest.
The original version is available on the Federal Trust Website.
The focus of this pamphlet is rather different, on an issue in respect of which everyone who lives in this country and indeed in the other countries of the European Union has a legitimate interest. I strongly believe that the internal debate on the United Kingdom’s role within the European Union is all too often conducted with a lack of intellectual balance and an excess of undirected emotion. Sadly, this undirected emotion can sometimes provoke equally unreflective responses from Britain’s partners. The misconceptions which underlay the French referendum’s rejection of the European Constitutional Treaty were the mirror image of misconceptions widely held in this country.
I hope in what follows to contribute to a European debate, in this country and elsewhere, which is more firmly grounded in reality and logic. The European Union’s British critics usually, and its British advocates sometimes, have for too long conducted the debate without sufficient concern for these two concepts. I offer these thoughts firmly believing that the United Kingdom’s constructive engagement as a key member state of the Union is extremely important both for the United Kingdom and for all the other member states of the Union.
Peter Sutherland
SUR LE MÊME THÈME
ON THE SAME THEME
PUBLICATIONS
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Brexit and External Differentiation in Single Market Access
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Should there be another Brexit-referendum? Risks and opportunities
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What impact would a No Deal Brexit have on European Parliament elections?
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A Guide to Brexit and Data Flows
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Brexit: potential scenarios amid turbulent waters
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Who Will Cope with the Post-Brexit Resentment?
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Transition: the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Brexit Galaxy
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“Shared sovereignty for monitoring borders already shared”
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Cameron: taking a gamble on Europe
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Britain and Europe: Anatomy of a speech
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Britain and Europe – The last rites?
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The Treaty of Lisbon: Assessment and Prospects
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Karlsruhe’s Europe
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The EU and the Lisbon Treaty: A New Chance for Serbia?
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Revising the European Treaties: A plea in favour of abolishing the veto
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The European Union after Lisbon: a three-part counterpoint
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Ireland and the EU Post-Lisbon
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The French Presidency of the EU Council
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Revising the European treaties : the Convention moment
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The intellectual debate in Britain on the European Union
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Leading from behind: Britain and the European Constitutional Treaty
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Britain in the New European Agenda
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The best laid plans: Britain’s Presidency of the Council of European Union
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MÉDIAS
MEDIAS
Faut-il réformer les traités européens ?
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Les traités actuels empêchent-ils l’Europe d’être plus écologique et sociale ?
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“Le monde occidental a totalement manqué de coordination pendant la crise.”
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