Cameron’s EU rhetoric must reach outside the Westminster bubble
Chris Fairbank, Dods Monitoring
| Dods Monitoring
With the prime minister setting out the terms of his EU renegotiations today, Political Consultant Chris Fairbank outlines the key themes and what they will mean for the political battle ahead.
Prime Minister David Cameron said in a
speech to the CBIon Monday he was not firing the starting pistol on the EU referendum campaign. Cameron merely delayed the start by twenty four hours – his
speech at the Royal United Service Institute on Tuesdaycould not be concealed as anything else. The prime minister spoke of his four key pillars of reform, his approach to tackling them and his "every confidence" in securing a deal for the UK. The headlines within his speech are as follows;
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There will be no second referendum
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The UK wants a number of safeguards - including a recognition that sterling is one of the currencies of the European Union, as well as protection for the single market
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Cameron recognises that to give the UK, or any other single country, a veto over European directives would lead to "gridlock" but groups of Parliaments should be able to combine to reject new laws, the so-called "red card" system
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The UK will scrap the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights
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Migrants should only be able to qualify for in-work benefits and social housing once they have been resident for four years and child benefits for children living abroad will be stopped
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He ruled out a Norwegian-like approach
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The date of the referendum will only be considered once the negotiation process is over
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All four pillars of negotiation (single market protection, competitiveness, exemption from an ever closer union and freedom of movement) are essential, he promised not address three and ignore a fourth
There was nothing new or novel about his approach but instead the prime minister focussed on promoting a stern whilst cooperative tone, an approach that will prove the most effective with his European counterparts. The main campaign group arguing for the UK to remain in the European Union welcomes the PM's proposed reforms, describing them as "sound and sensible". Cameron's problem will not be convincing colleagues of the need for reform, but the wider public who see the debate in different terms and factors than those in the Westminster bubble.
One of the notable differences between the two speeches however is the tone adopted towards migrants; on Monday Cameron said he would deliver a migrant benefit ban, today "I am open to different ways of dealing with this issue", prompted by comments from Martin Schulz, leader of the European Parliament, who said it was "good that the UK's requests are now set out officially" but questioned the viability of proposed curbs on migrant benefits. Eurosceptics are likely to seize upon this aspect of the speech as an indication of negotiations failing before they ever got going.
Following the speech
Cameron outlined his four main areas of reformin a letter to Donald Tusk, President of the European Council. The letter contained little new direction
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Economic Governance– any changes should respect the integrity of the Single Market and recognise the different currencies that make up the EU. Change to the Eurozone must be voluntary for non-Euro countries, Cameron says and non-Euro countries should never be "financially liable" to support the Eurozone
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Competitiveness– calls for a target on reducing the regulation imposed on business
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Sovereignty– an end to the obligation on Britain to purse an 'ever closer union', enhance the power of national parliaments to club together to block unwanted legislation, commitments to subsidiarity fully implemented and respect for member states to decide on their own national security policy
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Immigration– a crackdown on the abuse of free movement, longer bans on re-entry for fraudsters, additional deportation powers and addressing ECJ judgements on free movement.
In his statement to the Commons, Europe Minister David Lidington said the Government's priority was now to find solutions. He reiterated the main points of the letter and the prime minister's speech. There would then be a process of formal negotiations he said, leading to a substantive discussion at the December European Council meeting. Progress on the substance of the negotiation would determine the date of the referendum the minister said. The Government would not be drawn into a running commentary on negotiations he added. Again, nothing substantially new in Lidington’s statement of subsequent Q&A session with MPs. Eurosceptics accused the prime minister of “tinkering around the edges” rather than reforming, Lidington claimed the measures were a “good basis for concrete negotiations”. It was inevitable that neither side of the Conservative Party would be happy with the outcome. Nigel Farage will be putting in a few phone calls to Eurosceptic Tories this week and will use today’s announcements to fuel UKIP’s by-election campaign in Oldham West and Royton.
David Cameron will have a chance to convince European leader of his goals at the December European Council meeting. The much larger and more ominous task of convincing the British public will be a very different matter.
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