‘The English Channel is a psychological phenomenon as much as a body of water.’ As ever, Peter Mandelson deployed precision and detailed analysis in his Hands Lecture on the future of the EU and of EU-British relations. While deliberately steering clear of the depressing sight of British Euro-politicians selling the EU based on reduced mobile phone roaming charges, Mandelson presented a long-term strategic view on the direction of travel for the EU and thus the stark choice that Britain faces in the medium term when it comes to our involvement with the EU which boils down to: out, on the outside peering in – or in.
Mandelson clearly has a firm grip on the EU project and on the prevailing attitudes both ‘there’ in Brussels and ‘here’ in the UK. However, in what he only addresses in a peripheral sense lies the central problem with the British public’s odd relationship with the EU, and that is British politicians’ odd relationship with the EU.
In my lifetime, and, I suspect, since the EEC referendum in 1975, British politicians have been softly duplicitous when it comes to presenting the EU to the British public. Whenever there is policy the public agree with, it is presented as UK policy. When it’s accepted by the political classes to be important but unpalatable, it is the fault of the EU.
When this is seen alongside the democratic deficit and the British taste for sending somewhat tarnished politicians to Brussels as commissioners, it becomes clear why the British public are so suspicious of the EU. In the case of Mandelson, he turned out to be a sound choice as trade commissioner in the long run, but at the time it didn’t look good as I’m sure he will agree. The idea that Nick Clegg may use the EU as an escape route before the next general election is an insult to the electorate, if borne of truth, or telling in terms of EU narrative in the UK if not. Add all of this to the mix with our founding myth around the second world war, and it becomes a toxic issue.
Mandelson’s call for greater democracy in a future EU in the form of a directly elected ‘personality’ therefore is a welcome added voice. The EU, even when considering its current democratic structures, is technocratic and aloof – in British terms almost anathema to our own political culture, where Boris Johnson is mayor of our capital, and Ed Miliband is castigated for being a ‘wonk’.
So it is right that Mandelson’s ‘wake-up call’ is directed at ‘today’s generation of political, business and trade union leaders, and … NGOs’. A referendum on Britain’s relationship with the EU will come sooner or later. The bump in the polls for UKIP in local elections alone means that, whether their support stems from genuine antipathy to the EU or not, the issue of a referendum is not going away. It is therefore vital that a belated but robust pro-EU platform is built, as Mandelson argues, with the breadth and depth of argument that ensures the British public will heed the debate and not just switch off and vote us out.
This campaign mustn’t fall into the trap of campaigning for the EU as it is. As a nation with a significant stake in the future of Europe, we need to re-engage with the agenda and become the powerhouse for new ideas on how the EU should be, and on what we want it to achieve to build on the era of peace and prosperity that it has so far had a hand in creating. The current EU chapter is about to close, and the real challenge for Britain is to be at the forefront of writing the next.
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Steve Race is treasurer of the Young Fabians and leads their activity in the south-west
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