I still cannot understand what drove UK Prime Minister David Cameron to propose this upcoming referendum on whether to leave or remain in the EU. I think that perhaps he tried to stave off trouble within his own Conservative Party by attempting to clear the issue by referring to the public vote.
The UK is a country where, with 30 per cent of the vote, one can have an absolute majority in the House of Commons and therefore it is easy for internal party affairs to end up on the national agenda. Since the British are well-known Eurosceptics, I really believe this was a very tricky thing to do and that Cameron has taken a very big gamble. He took not only a gamble with his political career, but also a gamble with the future of the UK and of Europe. In these types of referenda, many side issues come up that have nothing to do with the core issues at stake. One such issue is immigration, which will probably only badly affect the UK if it actually leaves the EU, because it will be on its own in dealing with the problem – and immigration is not an issue that will disappear from any country’s radar any time soon.
I for one do not wish the UK to leave the EU, as they contribute an important input into the EU kaleidoscope, both economically and culturally and security-wise. The UK is one of the few European countries that found itself on the winning side of the WWII. It has not been through the same type of psychological trauma as other countries on the continent, particularly those who were on the losing side. There was a deep desire to avoid a repetition of the two world wars caused by misplaced nationalism and colonialism feeding militarism, and this strong quest for peace eventually led to the signing of the Treaty of Rome.
For these countries, it was a political quest rather than a simple economic one, as it seems to always have primarily been for the UK. The British attachment to a misplaced national pride in the face of ongoing European problems such as immigration and security issues exported by the Middle East, and a not so subtle immanent yearning for colonial times long since gone, are always clouding the main raison d’être of the British perception of the EU, which in essence simply amounts to political solidarity in practice.
It was always the intention of the EU founding states to be a political entity. The fact is, and always will be, that it is easier to attain political aims together in a shared sovereignty with others, than to go it alone. Unfortunately, Britain’s insularity does not help it come out of its political shell. Being an island, it seems always safer and easier to withdraw from continental Europe into the proverbial shell, hoping that the problems we all now have to face as Europe, will somehow go away.
They may fail to grasp that Disneyland is in Paris and that there is no intention of moving it across the channel any time soon! If the British decide to leave, it will not only open economic, cultural and security issues for Europe but also for itself, and the rub is that, finding itself alone, it will have to cope alone with all the difficulties that that entails. It will have to renegotiate trade and security agreements with all the individual EU countries and with the EU Commission and that might not be the first item on anyone’s agenda very soon!
If the EU signs an impending trade agreement with the USA and North America, it will be caught on the wrong side of the fence! Exchange of monies, people and services might also become more difficult. If the British build walls, so will the rest of Europe. Nobody owes anybody else a living and the old protectionist barriers will come up again while the British will also see their spheres of political influence in the EU establishment fall into tatters and they will struggle to make their voice heard. European leaders will call each other first in order to take decisions and, after they have decided, they will then call the UK to tell it what it must now do if it wants access to the EU countries. Rather than maintaining sovereignty, the British would actually lose it!
All in all, both Europe and the UK will lose if the latter decides to quit the Union, but the biggest loser will be the UK. Make no mistake about it, the British standard of living, commerce and development will not be able to keep up the same pace of development that it has had up to now and its citizens will eventually be worse off! The small fish never eats the big fish! Granted that, without the UK, Europe and Malta will have to have a rethink but there will be more safety in numbers!
Problems brought about by change are always an occasion for new challenges and opportunities. Many European countries, including Malta, will have to diversify their markets and this may be a positive thing as they will be forced to look for new opportunities for their goods and services. It is not only a question of the economy, however. I, for one, am a European Federalist. Britain has often kept the whole of the EU back by refusing to sign treaties and charters (fundamental rights!) and by buffering the pro-federalist moves. If Britain leaves, it is only natural that many of the continental countries with aspirations for closer union will now have the opportunity to bring this politics into play and, in the end, Europe with be a stronger union as befits the situation on the world stage today. If there is any democratic deficit, this can be patched up and the dreams of the founding fathers of the EU may again find willing ears for implementation.
Another spectre facing the UK if it decides to leave the EU is an internal one. The ever restive Scots, with William Wallace very much on their minds, have already said that they will call a new referendum for Scottish independence if the UK votes to leave the EU. Having obtained independence, they would then ask to join the EU! I also believe that new fractures will open up in Northern Ireland if Eire is an EU member state and the UK is not!
These risks are there and it behoves the British public to seriously consider these issues before they leap. The choice they now face is one of the most important decisions they will ever take for themselves and their offspring. It is important for them to focus on the real issues and to recognise that the side issues – and the petty-minded politicians who bring them up to cloud the landscape – are what they really are: petty issues brought up by petty-minded politicians!
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