Just when you thought the subject of Europe had fallen off the radar screen, it pops up again with the controversial election of the new EU Commission president. Of course, controversial depending on where you are based in Europe, and your view is of the EU and its future. Of 28 member states, 26 voted in favour of Jean-Claude Junker, two – us and Hungary – voted against.
Junker is seen as a European federalist – someone who wants further integration of the European Union and someone who is an enthusiast for all its complex and arcane institutions. David Cameron, whose position on Europe could not be clearer, tried to block this appointment and failed.
There was a very clear message delivered across the whole of Europe at the last euro elections. The swing to extreme parties – both to the right and to the left – was a manifestation of the extreme anger at the EU and various policies that people fear. Free movement of labour is the most prominent of those policies.
The Cameron proposition is simple. An in / out referendum in 2017 after a period of renegotiation of the EU relationship. Junker is seem by Cameron as a hindrance to that negotiation plan. But is this a real problem.
I have spent a fair amount of time looking at this issue through my vice chairmanship of the European Reform all party group and my activities with the Conservative backbench Fresh Start Project. We are looking into what is achievable and what is the appetite to EU reform.
It is actually far greater than people would imagine. Most people across the EU recognise that it has gone too far and also want to see a return or powers to local governments; EU where necessary, country parliaments where possible. Importantly, all countries across the EU, to a greater or lesser extent, see UK exit as a very bad thing indeed. This gives David Cameron a very strong negotiating position and he has already seen some successes in areas such as the EU budget.
We must have closure on this debate once and for all. Anti EU rhetoric is damaging our relationship with Europe. We must decide, once and for all, whether we are part of it; or whether we go it alone. That is why a referendum in 2017 must happen. And only a Conservative government will deliver that.