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What should David Cameron have on his EU wishlist? What should David Cameron have on his EU wishlist?
(about 4 hours later)
On Tuesday David Cameron will release a letter to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, setting out demands that will form the basis of a renegotiation of Britain’s relationship to the EU. Depending on the outcome of those negotiations, Cameron will campaign to remain in the EU, or to leave it, ahead of a referendum in summer 2016. Here three panellists present their own ideas for reform.On Tuesday David Cameron will release a letter to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, setting out demands that will form the basis of a renegotiation of Britain’s relationship to the EU. Depending on the outcome of those negotiations, Cameron will campaign to remain in the EU, or to leave it, ahead of a referendum in summer 2016. Here three panellists present their own ideas for reform.
Matthew d’Ancona: No benefits for EU migrants for a yearMatthew d’Ancona: No benefits for EU migrants for a year
I believe that in order to remain a member of the EU, Britain needs the distinction between the eurozone and those outside it to be formalised by treaty, so that member states that have chosen to keep their own currencies are not dragged into the fiscal harmonisation that will sooner or later accompany monetary harmonisation. And while we recognise the sanctity of free mobility, migrants to Britain from within the EU should not be able to claim benefits for 12 months. My priorities would be:I believe that in order to remain a member of the EU, Britain needs the distinction between the eurozone and those outside it to be formalised by treaty, so that member states that have chosen to keep their own currencies are not dragged into the fiscal harmonisation that will sooner or later accompany monetary harmonisation. And while we recognise the sanctity of free mobility, migrants to Britain from within the EU should not be able to claim benefits for 12 months. My priorities would be:
• It’s important that we see the legal entrenchment of a two-tier Europe – those members that want to enact monetary and fiscal union can do so, and those who don’t will not be penalised• It’s important that we see the legal entrenchment of a two-tier Europe – those members that want to enact monetary and fiscal union can do so, and those who don’t will not be penalised
• It should be possible for the UK to say that EU migrants who come here are banned from claiming benefits for the first year• It should be possible for the UK to say that EU migrants who come here are banned from claiming benefits for the first year
• There should actually be an explicit exemption from “ever closer union”, the principle originally set out in the Treaty of Rome, the European community’s founding document• There should actually be an explicit exemption from “ever closer union”, the principle originally set out in the Treaty of Rome, the European community’s founding document
• Safeguards for City of London should be put in place to protect its competitive edge and maintain it as a pre-eminent financial centre• Safeguards for City of London should be put in place to protect its competitive edge and maintain it as a pre-eminent financial centre
• There should be greater commitment to cultivation of outward trade with competitor blocs, such as China• There should be greater commitment to cultivation of outward trade with competitor blocs, such as China
Matthew d’Ancona writes a weekly column for the Guardian
Mary Creagh: A greener, leaner EuropeMary Creagh: A greener, leaner Europe
The EU has been the most successful peace process the world has ever seen. But it needs to refresh itself for the next generation of challenges that we face. These must include:The EU has been the most successful peace process the world has ever seen. But it needs to refresh itself for the next generation of challenges that we face. These must include:
• Tackling youth unemployment. The fiscal straitjacket under which many countries are constrained should be loosened and labour market reforms developed• Tackling youth unemployment. The fiscal straitjacket under which many countries are constrained should be loosened and labour market reforms developed
• A European minimum wage. Most EU countries already have minimum wage legislation but it is not enough to live on. Member states should look at harmonising with a target of 50% of median earnings• A European minimum wage. Most EU countries already have minimum wage legislation but it is not enough to live on. Member states should look at harmonising with a target of 50% of median earnings
• A healthier Europe. The food industry’s lobbying against consumer friendly food labelling has delayed tackling Europe’s growing obesity crisis. Action is required to defuse this ticking time bomb• A healthier Europe. The food industry’s lobbying against consumer friendly food labelling has delayed tackling Europe’s growing obesity crisis. Action is required to defuse this ticking time bomb
• A greener, resource-efficient Europe. A focus on clean green energy generation would reduce dependence on Russian gas and Middle Eastern oil. The potential of fracking should be properly analysed and recycling rates increased.• A greener, resource-efficient Europe. A focus on clean green energy generation would reduce dependence on Russian gas and Middle Eastern oil. The potential of fracking should be properly analysed and recycling rates increased.
Mary Creagh, Labour’s shadow environment secretary, is the MP for Wakefield
Mark Wallace: No more ‘ever closer union’Mark Wallace: No more ‘ever closer union’
I’m planning to vote Leave, and it would take a hell of a lot to make me reconsider. Nine years ago, I helped to launch the Better Off Out campaign, because the EU is an undemocratic, costly and protectionist organisation out of step with the 21st century. I don’t believe the EU is either willing to change sufficiently to make it worth staying – but here’s how it would need to alter to make me even begin to consider otherwise (and all of these moves would have to be cemented via treaty change):I’m planning to vote Leave, and it would take a hell of a lot to make me reconsider. Nine years ago, I helped to launch the Better Off Out campaign, because the EU is an undemocratic, costly and protectionist organisation out of step with the 21st century. I don’t believe the EU is either willing to change sufficiently to make it worth staying – but here’s how it would need to alter to make me even begin to consider otherwise (and all of these moves would have to be cemented via treaty change):
• British law should be supreme. Whether you’re on the right or the left, the idea that law made by bureaucrats should take precedence over a democratic parliament is obscene. It should be a fundamental principle that Westminster law holds sway.• British law should be supreme. Whether you’re on the right or the left, the idea that law made by bureaucrats should take precedence over a democratic parliament is obscene. It should be a fundamental principle that Westminster law holds sway.
• No more “ever closer union”. As the prime minister said in his Bloomberg speech, the idea that members of the EU should strive at every point and on every topic to constantly integrate further is fundamentally misguided. British politicians finally agree that devolving and localising power is a better way to run things – why on earth should we be part of an organisation that believes the very opposite, and enforces the idea through its courts? “Ever closer union” should be deleted from the EU treaties and scrapped as a concept.• No more “ever closer union”. As the prime minister said in his Bloomberg speech, the idea that members of the EU should strive at every point and on every topic to constantly integrate further is fundamentally misguided. British politicians finally agree that devolving and localising power is a better way to run things – why on earth should we be part of an organisation that believes the very opposite, and enforces the idea through its courts? “Ever closer union” should be deleted from the EU treaties and scrapped as a concept.
• A trade-only relationship. At the moment, the EU controls vast swaths of public policy, from migration and financial regulation to fisheries and environmental policy. This is unnecessary, undemocratic and frankly backward. Free trade with our nearest neighbours is clearly a good idea, and it is on this – and this only – that our relationship with the EU should rest.• A trade-only relationship. At the moment, the EU controls vast swaths of public policy, from migration and financial regulation to fisheries and environmental policy. This is unnecessary, undemocratic and frankly backward. Free trade with our nearest neighbours is clearly a good idea, and it is on this – and this only – that our relationship with the EU should rest.
• The freedom to strike our own trade deals with the rest of the world. The EU thinks of itself as a free trade bloc, when in fact it is a protectionist customs union. European Free Trade Association members are free to trade with it (applying EU regulations only to firms selling to the EU) and to agree their own external free trade deals. By contrast, EU members must apply regulatory costs to their whole economies and wait on sluggish and undemocratic processes such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations to open new markets. The world’s growth is largely taking place outside the EU – we must have the freedom to access it without having our hands tied by Brussels.• The freedom to strike our own trade deals with the rest of the world. The EU thinks of itself as a free trade bloc, when in fact it is a protectionist customs union. European Free Trade Association members are free to trade with it (applying EU regulations only to firms selling to the EU) and to agree their own external free trade deals. By contrast, EU members must apply regulatory costs to their whole economies and wait on sluggish and undemocratic processes such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations to open new markets. The world’s growth is largely taking place outside the EU – we must have the freedom to access it without having our hands tied by Brussels.
Mark Wallace is executive editor of ConservativeHome