William Hague at Open Europe summer reception: The status quo isnt working;Lord Leach: Europes leaders must embrace changeThis week, Open Europe hosted its summer reception in London, with leading politicians and businesspeople from around Europe in attendance. The Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon. William Hague, gave the keynote speech at dinner.Mr Hague argued that the status quo isnt working, and that while change in the EU is worth fighting for, that change cannot be superficial. Nevertheless, Hague also stressed that the UK has already been successful in key areas of EU reform such as on the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and banking union safeguards.
The Foreign Secretary commended Open Europe for its work, saying it has become one of the outstanding think tanks on EU matters anywhere in Europe. He also reminded guests that Open Europe grew out of the Business for Sterling campaign to keep Britain out of the euro. Thank goodness we succeeded, said Hague, because it is now clear to nearly everyone, that what we predicted was right: British membership of the eurozone would have been an economic disaster for our country and would have created a political crisis in this country.
Open Europes Chairman, Lord Leach of Fairford, also spoke at the event, highlighting the need for Europe to become more competitive in a global economy, and to embrace growth-enhancing measures. The EU can't go on like this fire fighting crises and losing ground against all the rest of the world, said Lord Leach. We have no choice but to streamline the Single Market, cut waste or sink still further Unless generation helps Europes leaders to find the courage to embrace change, will be proved right, that reform is a pipe-dream.
The event was covered extensively in the press including by the the Telegraph, Reuters, the Times and the International Business Times. A video of the Foreign Secretarys speech is available on our website here.
EU Crime opt-outs: Handing power to EU judges fraught with risk
Last week, Home Secretary Theresa may announced that the UK would exercise its right under the Lisbon Treaty to opt-out of around 133 EU crime and policing laws. A move originally proposed by Open Europe on the basis that, from next year, the European Court of Justice will acquire full jurisdiction over these laws. May announced that the Government will then seek to opt-back into 35 of the 133 measures, which it deemed to be in the UKs national interest including the controversial European Arrest Warrant.
Writing for Conservative Home, Open Europes Christopher Howarth argued that Giving the ECJ power over this most sensitive of areas is hugely significant and fraught with risk. For the first time, the UK could be taken to court by the European Commission if it refuses to follow other states requests on a wide range of crime and policing activities. The piece was later cited by Conservative Home editor Paul Goodman.
Similarly, Open Europes Research Director Stephen Booth argued in a piece for the Guardians Comment is Free that the coalition had missed a chance to debate the fundamental issue at the heart of cross-border crime and police co-operation and that handing more power to the EU would break a democratic link between the UK government and the public. Stephen also appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live discussing the issue.
Following concerns raised by Open Europe and a number of Conservative MPs the Government later dropped its reference to opt-back into 35 measures, instead allowing additional time for the list to be further scrutinised by MPs via parliamentary select committees. Speaking in a subsequent Commons debate, Theresa May indicated that a future Conservative government would consider the jurisdiction of the ECJ when renegotiating Britains relationship with the EU.
European Commission proposals on banking union set worrying precedent for UK
A European Banking Union has always been touted as one of the key solutions to the eurozone crisis. So when the European Commission presented its proposals for one key pillar of that banking union the Single Resolution Mechanism it was no great surprise that it suggested giving itself significantly more power, which would essentially allow it to wind down large national or multi-national banks.
Germany, however, came out swinging against the Brussels proposal. And Open Europe continues to highlight how such proposals pose a risk to national governments and democratic accountability. As we observed, and as was argued by our Director, Mats Persson, in his Telegraph blog, the proposal could set a worrying precedent for the UK and non-eurozone countries if the single market is used as a legal base, because The more the line between the eurozone and the single market is blurred, the more likely the UK is to leave .
Our flash analysis on the Commissions proposals were also cited by Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten and the Guardian and Telegraph live blogs. On a similar note, Open Europes Stephen Booth was quoted in Money Marketing arguing that there is a legitimate discussion to be had about EU financial regulation in the context of greater eurozone integration.
In other news
The troubles in the eurozone continue to rumble on. A mere two weeks ago, the Portuguese government looked on the brink of collapse but, as we predicted, it seems to have weathered the storm just. Our team, including our economics- and southern Europe- experts, Raoul Ruparel and Vincenzo Scarpetta, appeared on diverse media platforms, including Radio France International and CNBC, discussing events in Portugal. Our analysis also featured in the Independent and on the Guardian Live blog
Meanwhile, Open Europes mission to ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency in the EU institutions continues as our research on matters such as EU waste and over regulation continue to gather press coverage. Here the Mail cites Open Europes research which found that EU regulation cost the UK economy £124bn between 1998 and 2010.
Bron: politics.be
The Foreign Secretary commended Open Europe for its work, saying it has become one of the outstanding think tanks on EU matters anywhere in Europe. He also reminded guests that Open Europe grew out of the Business for Sterling campaign to keep Britain out of the euro. Thank goodness we succeeded, said Hague, because it is now clear to nearly everyone, that what we predicted was right: British membership of the eurozone would have been an economic disaster for our country and would have created a political crisis in this country.
Open Europes Chairman, Lord Leach of Fairford, also spoke at the event, highlighting the need for Europe to become more competitive in a global economy, and to embrace growth-enhancing measures. The EU can't go on like this fire fighting crises and losing ground against all the rest of the world, said Lord Leach. We have no choice but to streamline the Single Market, cut waste or sink still further Unless generation helps Europes leaders to find the courage to embrace change, will be proved right, that reform is a pipe-dream.
The event was covered extensively in the press including by the the Telegraph, Reuters, the Times and the International Business Times. A video of the Foreign Secretarys speech is available on our website here.
EU Crime opt-outs: Handing power to EU judges fraught with risk
Last week, Home Secretary Theresa may announced that the UK would exercise its right under the Lisbon Treaty to opt-out of around 133 EU crime and policing laws. A move originally proposed by Open Europe on the basis that, from next year, the European Court of Justice will acquire full jurisdiction over these laws. May announced that the Government will then seek to opt-back into 35 of the 133 measures, which it deemed to be in the UKs national interest including the controversial European Arrest Warrant.
Writing for Conservative Home, Open Europes Christopher Howarth argued that Giving the ECJ power over this most sensitive of areas is hugely significant and fraught with risk. For the first time, the UK could be taken to court by the European Commission if it refuses to follow other states requests on a wide range of crime and policing activities. The piece was later cited by Conservative Home editor Paul Goodman.
Similarly, Open Europes Research Director Stephen Booth argued in a piece for the Guardians Comment is Free that the coalition had missed a chance to debate the fundamental issue at the heart of cross-border crime and police co-operation and that handing more power to the EU would break a democratic link between the UK government and the public. Stephen also appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live discussing the issue.
Following concerns raised by Open Europe and a number of Conservative MPs the Government later dropped its reference to opt-back into 35 measures, instead allowing additional time for the list to be further scrutinised by MPs via parliamentary select committees. Speaking in a subsequent Commons debate, Theresa May indicated that a future Conservative government would consider the jurisdiction of the ECJ when renegotiating Britains relationship with the EU.
European Commission proposals on banking union set worrying precedent for UK
A European Banking Union has always been touted as one of the key solutions to the eurozone crisis. So when the European Commission presented its proposals for one key pillar of that banking union the Single Resolution Mechanism it was no great surprise that it suggested giving itself significantly more power, which would essentially allow it to wind down large national or multi-national banks.
Germany, however, came out swinging against the Brussels proposal. And Open Europe continues to highlight how such proposals pose a risk to national governments and democratic accountability. As we observed, and as was argued by our Director, Mats Persson, in his Telegraph blog, the proposal could set a worrying precedent for the UK and non-eurozone countries if the single market is used as a legal base, because The more the line between the eurozone and the single market is blurred, the more likely the UK is to leave .
Our flash analysis on the Commissions proposals were also cited by Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten and the Guardian and Telegraph live blogs. On a similar note, Open Europes Stephen Booth was quoted in Money Marketing arguing that there is a legitimate discussion to be had about EU financial regulation in the context of greater eurozone integration.
In other news
The troubles in the eurozone continue to rumble on. A mere two weeks ago, the Portuguese government looked on the brink of collapse but, as we predicted, it seems to have weathered the storm just. Our team, including our economics- and southern Europe- experts, Raoul Ruparel and Vincenzo Scarpetta, appeared on diverse media platforms, including Radio France International and CNBC, discussing events in Portugal. Our analysis also featured in the Independent and on the Guardian Live blog
Meanwhile, Open Europes mission to ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency in the EU institutions continues as our research on matters such as EU waste and over regulation continue to gather press coverage. Here the Mail cites Open Europes research which found that EU regulation cost the UK economy £124bn between 1998 and 2010.
Bron: politics.be