Dusty dossiers give EU the benefit of the doubt

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/t...the-doubt.html

Dusty dossiers give EU the benefit of the doubt

The Government’s review of the EU will sway few hearts either for or against

The reports reveal the extent to which Whitehall is not only enmeshed with Brussels, but comfortable with it

How do you create an extreme Eurosceptic? Take a moderate Eurosceptic, and put him in government. That, at least, has been the impression given by many Tory ministers, shocked on winning office to discover how much of their job consisted of negotiating with – or simply submitting to – Brussels. Steve Hilton, the Prime Minister’s exiled strategy guru, estimated that a third of the Government’s workload was generated by European diktats – which often ran directly counter to the Coalition’s own agenda.

The stated aim of the Government’s review of competences, of which the first instalment was delivered yesterday, was to establish the precise nature of Britain’s relationship with Brussels, in order to provide a basis for renegotiation. Yet it was also intended to demonstrate the alarming extent to which Europe’s tentacles reach into our governance – to make the public share the alarm and despair of those who have to wrestle with its directives on a daily basis.

In this, it has been only partly successful. The sheer scale of the exercise – consisting of 32 separate reports, on everything from energy to fisheries to tourism, culture and sport – shows the scale of the task. But the initial reports reveal the extent to which Whitehall is not only enmeshed with Brussels, but comfortable with it. They were written under the partial supervision of the Foreign Office, long a bastion of Europhilia, at the behest of a Prime Minister who clearly favours an In rather than Out vote, in the event that suitable concessions can be won.

The documents published yesterday, therefore, go out of their way to acknowledge Europe’s benefits. On health, the balance of competences is “broadly appropriate”; the EU’s freedom of movement not only provides keen young Eastern European waiters, but the staff that keep our tottering NHS on its feet. The economic benefits of the single market are apparently judged by most observers, and most contributors to the review, to outweigh the political costs. Both the authors, and those they canvass, are comfortable with and supportive of the status quo: their suggested reforms are largely institutional changes to make things work better, or more in Britain’s interest, voiced by a candid friend rather than an implacable scourge.

So while useful, this review will sway few hearts. Those who want to stay in will point to the advantages, and the difficulty of extricating ourselves. Those who want reform will be grateful for specific areas to prioritise. Those who want to leave will find evidence aplenty of how Britain’s sovereignty has been diluted and traduced. But in truth, a question this elemental was never going to be resolved by a few dusty dossiers.

Remember all those months back, the Foreign Secretary Mr Hague promised a review into the EU in all policy areas? well shock horror, the pro-EU Conservatives with the pro-EU Liberal Democrats produce a report that says....... the EU is good for us. Now who expected that rabbit to be pulled out of the hat? :rolleyes:

A unusually good article on the subject though, especially at the beginning, showing just how much control the EU has over our national government - as stated by senior government figures. Think it's worth posting just for that because a lot of you I feel don't believe me when I claim the EU creates huge swathes of our legislation and consider me a bit of a nut and exaggerator. But there you have it.

As has been said many times before, economic arguments aside - the issue of EU membership boils right down to the core question of 'who governs Britain?' the elected British Government or the unelected (and foreign) European Commission?

Thoughts?