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| Cameron's chance to deal with long-term EU problems | Cameron's chance to deal with long-term EU problems |
| (4 months later) | |
| Your leader (24 January) identifies how the central thrust of David Cameron's European speech was concerned not with economics but with politics, and short-term domestic politics at that. Cameron, however, will shortly have the opportunity – at next month's European summit to settle the EU's budget for 2014-20 – to go some way to remedying this by putting long-term economic considerations centre stage. Despite the breakdown of EU budget negotiations in November, the current proposals for the bloc's next seven-year budgetary period still contain a commitment for 20% of all spending to support measures such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and the creation of green jobs. Not only can such greener European spending help the UK and our fellow Europeans reach our climate change commitments, they can help catalyse the UK economy by unlocking major investments for some of the world's finest renewable energy resources. | Your leader (24 January) identifies how the central thrust of David Cameron's European speech was concerned not with economics but with politics, and short-term domestic politics at that. Cameron, however, will shortly have the opportunity – at next month's European summit to settle the EU's budget for 2014-20 – to go some way to remedying this by putting long-term economic considerations centre stage. Despite the breakdown of EU budget negotiations in November, the current proposals for the bloc's next seven-year budgetary period still contain a commitment for 20% of all spending to support measures such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and the creation of green jobs. Not only can such greener European spending help the UK and our fellow Europeans reach our climate change commitments, they can help catalyse the UK economy by unlocking major investments for some of the world's finest renewable energy resources. |
| Having gone into the November budget summit as the wrecker in chief, and now in the muted afterglow of a speech that has – at best – left most of Europe scratching its collective head, Cameron would do well to extend a green-shaded branch to our European partners at the upcoming budget talks. There is nothing "in or out" about Europe's environmental challenges, whether the looming climate crisis or our inefficient use of resources. We are all in this together, and a green EU budget is one of the best tools for collectively getting the continent out of its environmental and economic predicaments. Greig Aitken Brno, Czech Republic | Having gone into the November budget summit as the wrecker in chief, and now in the muted afterglow of a speech that has – at best – left most of Europe scratching its collective head, Cameron would do well to extend a green-shaded branch to our European partners at the upcoming budget talks. There is nothing "in or out" about Europe's environmental challenges, whether the looming climate crisis or our inefficient use of resources. We are all in this together, and a green EU budget is one of the best tools for collectively getting the continent out of its environmental and economic predicaments. Greig Aitken Brno, Czech Republic |
| • Timothy Garton Ash and his ilk call it the EU accord on the free movement of peoples (From outside, it's clear Britain has to stay in Europe, 24 January). For many others it's nothing less than mass immigration. The problem is a living wage and mass immigration are mutually exclusive. Either curtail immigration, in which case the market will automatically raise the minimum wage, or let the CBI decide how many to let in. | • Timothy Garton Ash and his ilk call it the EU accord on the free movement of peoples (From outside, it's clear Britain has to stay in Europe, 24 January). For many others it's nothing less than mass immigration. The problem is a living wage and mass immigration are mutually exclusive. Either curtail immigration, in which case the market will automatically raise the minimum wage, or let the CBI decide how many to let in. |
| Curtailing unskilled immigration from outside the EU will not be sufficient to achieve a living wage. It will also require curtailing immigration from within an ever-expanding EU. But an end to importing cheap labour has a "democratic" downside. It will involve a transfer of purchasing power from the more numerous and more likely to vote middle class to the less numerous and less likely to vote working class, albeit tempered by a reduction in welfare costs. | Curtailing unskilled immigration from outside the EU will not be sufficient to achieve a living wage. It will also require curtailing immigration from within an ever-expanding EU. But an end to importing cheap labour has a "democratic" downside. It will involve a transfer of purchasing power from the more numerous and more likely to vote middle class to the less numerous and less likely to vote working class, albeit tempered by a reduction in welfare costs. |
| Our mainstream political parties would probably find this electorally unacceptable, although for anyone concerned about national cohesiveness it should be a price worth paying. Everything else about the EU is "small print" and not worthy of a referendum. Yugo Kovach Winterborne Houghton, Dorset | Our mainstream political parties would probably find this electorally unacceptable, although for anyone concerned about national cohesiveness it should be a price worth paying. Everything else about the EU is "small print" and not worthy of a referendum. Yugo Kovach Winterborne Houghton, Dorset |
| • I could write so much about this foolish, misguided and fundamentally bad government – but the simple conclusion is that I have five years to find a home in another decent, civilised European country while I still have the right to move. John Forsyth Lostwithiel, Cornwall | • I could write so much about this foolish, misguided and fundamentally bad government – but the simple conclusion is that I have five years to find a home in another decent, civilised European country while I still have the right to move. John Forsyth Lostwithiel, Cornwall |
| • Given that Ukip and the Tory right wish to pull us out of the EU, I wonder if they know which is the Brussels station before Centrale/Centraal (Letters, 23 January). Alex Gibson London | • Given that Ukip and the Tory right wish to pull us out of the EU, I wonder if they know which is the Brussels station before Centrale/Centraal (Letters, 23 January). Alex Gibson London |
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