Better off out? Better off in? What about better off in the lead? To truly reconcile Britain and the European Union, and to calm voter unrest, the Labour party should consider a bold bid to elect a British president of the European commission in 2019. This would send a strong message to the United Kingdom Independence party, to the Conservatives and to the British people that the party is not ‘soft on Europe’ and is in fact serious about its pledges to reform the EU from within. As a pro-European party, why would Labour not want to have a run at this top job in Brussels now that the position is clearly based on a democratic election?
Historically, the European debate in Britain has rarely been about how to actually reform the EU to solve concerns and complaints. Before this year’s elections it was narrowly focused on whether or not there should be a referendum, if immigration is good or bad, and on the benefits of being in or out of the single market. After the election, David Cameron’s anti-Juncker crusade was a way to quieten his backbenchers after an unprecedented defeat, rather than a genuine attempt to ‘defend British interests’. There have been some valiant attempts by pro-European progressives to talk about the role the different British parties play in Brussels and the rights we enjoy and must promote as a result of EU membership, such as protection for workers, consumers or the environment. Ironically, though, these are often the very same rights that Ukip or the Conservatives call ‘red tape’ and have British voters grumbling about.
Once the May 2015 general election is out of the way, and Labour has (hopefully) secured a strong majority, then it is time to invest in Europe and start planning for the 2019 European elections. Ukip and the Tories will not give up their heckling from the opposition benches for a referendum, so Labour needs a bold play to silence them. Proposing a Labour candidate for the presidency of the European commission could achieve this. It would show British voters that Labour wants to roll up its sleeves and do the work needed to reform the EU from a position of strength, and not shout from the sidelines like the Tories and Ukip. Rather than seriously damaging our reputation in Brussels like they do, it would give a clear sign of a constructive commitment, thus increasing our influence and credibility.
Cameron made a huge fuss about Jean-Claude Juncker’s nomination when it was too late to stop it. He watched mainstream Euro-parties pick a ‘spitzenkandidat’ while his own political family sulkily staged a ‘Nobody for President’ stunt in Brussels. His fringe Euro-party will likely do the same in 2019, or be forced to do a deal with Juncker’s European People’s party, neither of which give them much real influence. Labour must take a different approach, and engage early.
The Labour party engaged in the European socialists’ selection process and the principle of the new ‘spitzenkandidat’ system in 2014, even though it abstained from backing the eventual candidate Martin Schulz. After this year’s successful democratic experiment, there is nothing to stand in the way of Labour playing an even more active role in the next Party of European Socialists’ campaign. With the presidential election likely to be much more visible in 2019, it would be a great platform for Labour to proactively sell its vision of the EU to voters across Europe and at home, which would no doubt capture the imagination. The Conservative party has done a huge amount of harm to Britain’s reputation and influence in Europe. A bold Labour candidate could undo much of the harm caused internationally and reap huge rewards domestically. The first and last British commission president left office in 1981. The next one is long overdue.
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Tim McPhie worked as press officer for Martin Schulz’s campaign to be European commission president. He writes here in a personal capacity
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Exactly what is UK Labour’s “vision for the EU”? It appears to be a weak version of the Tories. Also worth noting that UK Labour has done itself huge harm in the PES as not only did they fail to support Martin’s nomination, they actively opposed him in the press and refused to have him campaign in Britain. UK Labour has a huge amount of ground to make up with its European partners before anyone in the PES would trust them with such a candidacy.
I nominate Hazel Blears a good communicator and these days wrongly under rated. Excellent choice.
Blears’ uncritical suport for RIPA rules her out straightaway. The relevant Brussels agencies have shown some guts in opposing GChQ and NSA attempt to Stasify the entire world. Fortunately, Blears would have no hope of impressing other PES parties. Let’s get serious: desmondotoole rightly asks how Labour support for ‘reform’ differs from the Tories. Since LP socialist ideology vanished and has been replaced by uncritical Delorsism (remember TUC conference) and uncritical greenery, we have had no criterion by which to judge reform ideas or to distinguish reform from uncritical Brussels-worship a la “Centre for European Reform’ (proprietor Charles Grant…). Q 1: DO WE WANT AN EVER CLOSER UNION? if so why? If we cannot answer that question, we should do a lot of (re???-)thinking about our Delorsism.
A pointless article, you only have to look at voting in the Eurovision song contest to see what chance Labour would ever have of getting their nomination carried by our “Friends” in the European Union. The UK is simply another credit card for the EU to be cut up & thrown away when the money ever dries up
Indeed, very good. Europe is an area where Labour can demonstrate that not only are they representing the interests of the British people (same can’t be said for Tories/UKIP, as they see maternity leave as “red tape”), but is also engaged in the worlds most progressive political project.