Preface by Professor Damian Chalmers,
Professor of European Law, London School of Economics (LSE)
The debate about the Britain’s relationship
with the European Union has historically been a choice between false
alternatives.
One alternative is fatalism. The Union is too
entrenched to change and too big to leave, so we have to bear with it.
Furthermore, even to raise the possibility of change is dangerous. Its central
policies with their inevitable winners and losers are cast as fundamental
pillars of European integration, which are immutable and beyond democratic
debate. To imagine other possibilities within the Union framework is condemned
as unrealistic and to imagine alternatives beyond Union membership is seeking
pariah status.
The other alternative is Nirvana. Nirvana is
offered by those pleading for a little more integration. Greater powers will
bring a promised land of increased riches. It is also offered even more
stridently by some of those seeking exit from the Union. The United Kingdom
will enter a world of splendid isolation where it is free to make any choices
it wishes. And a world of infinite choices is a world of infinite
possibilities.
However, the promise of Nirvana always
disappoints. This world of splendid isolation gives no account of the
relationship that the United Kingdom will have with the European Union or the
legacy of its Union membership: both of which are likely to exert a significant
presence for the foreseeable future.
The value of a referendum on United Kingdom
membership is that it breaks this false choice. It allows us to think about
institutional alternatives, be this as a member of the European Union or as a
non-member. My preference (just) is to consider institutional alternatives for
the United Kingdom within the European Union. I believe, however, more strongly
that a wide array of alternatives need be put forward, which envisage the United
Kingdom both within and outside the Union, if any referendum is not simply
going to be on whether to ratify a diplomatic fait accompli.
For this reason, I am delighted to write this
preface for David Campbell Bannerman’s
important, timely and valuable contribution. It is the first contribution to
think seriously and in detail about the legal framework that one would want for
a United Kingdom outside the Union. It is, furthermore, written by somebody
with extensive knowledge of both European Union affairs and, importantly, its
relationships with European States which are not members of the European Union.
Importantly, he recognises these as templates, but as nothing more.
Economically and demographically, a United Kingdom-EU arrangement would dwarf
these, and should not, thus, be conceived in the same way.
The EEA Lite Agreement proposed by him is thus
legally feasible. It parallels many aspects of the EEA Agreement in terms of
institutions and relationships but contains fundamental differences in terms of
its treatment of the EU acquis and free movement of persons.
Campbell Bannerman’s book rightly implies that
the choice about organisational membership camouflages a more fundamental
choice, namely the style of society we wish. The choice should inform the
burdens assumed by the United Kingdom if we remain within the European Union.
It should also guide our relations with the European Union if we leave.
If, coming from differing parts of the
political spectrum, his and my views differ on some aspects, the central
assumptions behind his vision are ones with which I, and I suspect, many
British citizens agree. The United Kingdom should be an open and liberal
society. All policies governing it should be subject to democratic contestation
and constitutional controls within the United Kingdom. There should be
positive, generous, and wide-ranging political engagement between the United
Kingdom and other governments and international organisations. The challenge
for all of us is to think the ends and means for realising this in the best way
possible. This book pushes the debate forward on this.
from Time to Jump by David Campbell Bannerman MEP
Get your copy HERE
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Jump-Positive-Independent-Agreement/dp/1909698512/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396289029&sr=8-1&keywords=bretwalda+time+to+jump
