A view from inside the EU

Summary

• Be clear in explaining a vision of a European Union of states and regions in which power resides at the level at which it is most effectively exercised and as close to the citizens as possible.
• Certain fields of competence such as culture, sport and education are and should remain core activities of Member States and their constituent regions.
• Other policy areas require a broader view -energy and environment, external and security policy & asylum and immigration.
• Acceptance of the benefits of the Internal Market also requires a degree of regulatory supervision from the Member States and EU level judiciaries eg. environmental standards, food safety legislation and consumer protection.

There is nothing to fear from an institutional architecture in which power resides at the level at which it is best exercised, where the nation states making up the Union retain a central place in decision-making but agree to pool sovereignty in certain areas where they perceive that common action delivers better results. If the legitimacy question can be addressed then we go some way to reconnecting the activities and relevance of the EU to the citizen. In policy terms it is important to be clear that certain fields of competence such as culture, sport or education are core activities of Member States and, in some cases, of their constituent regions. If the Union acts in these domains it must only be to assist and supplement the actions of Member States eg. educational exchanges, recognition of qualifications, protection and restoration of national heritage etc.
Similarly there is a good case for EU action in securing energy supplies and combating climate change, pursuing common external and security policy (including defence procurement) and common asylum and migration policies. However if we accept the benefits of the Internal Market, then we must also accept some degree of common regulatory supervision eg. of respect for environmental standards, food safety legislation or consumer protection. These activities in turn though must be closely monitored and scrutinised both from the perspective of efficiency and of subsidiarity. Inevitably in a club or community of 27 members the common interest on all issues will not always be optimal for all member states. This is part of the compromise of membership that one accepts on joining on the understanding that the benefits outweigh the costs. If the British can grasp this basic tenet of membership of the European Union, then we are likely to have a healthier relationship with our European partners in the future and genuinely be able to claim to be at the heart of Europe.