European citizenship and the British

1. European citizenship and the British Richard Laming 20 January 2010

2. Four dimensions of citizenship • Shared justice • Shared influence • Shared identity • Shared resources

3. Features of European citizenship • Prior to the Lisbon treaty • In the Lisbon treaty itself • In other recent developments • British perspective

4. Shared justice: prior to Lisbon • Cooperation largely intergovernmental – e.g. TREVI, Prüm • European Arrest Warrant • Charter of Fundamental Rights, but with no legal force • Anti-discrimination measures

5. Shared justice: in Lisbon treaty • General move to Community method for legislation • Charter of Fundamental Rights has legal force • Anti-discrimination provisions retained

6. Shared justice: other developments • Stockholm Programme - rights of the individual in criminal proceedings, e.g. time limits, language conditions, proportionality • Proposals for mutual recognition of judicial judgments • Proposals to simplify marriage, divorce and inheritance – 13% of marriagess and 13% of divorces are “international”

7. Shared justice: British perspective • Suspicious of Charter of Fundamental Rights, ECJ and EU law in general • Opted-out of much JHA cooperation • Has to decide on Lisbon opt-outs in 2013 • UK not in EU enhanced cooperation group for divorce proposal

8. Shared influence: prior to Lisbon • Directly elected European Parliament, with legislative poweres • Turnouts lower than in national elections (average of 43% compared with 75%) • Lower public recognition for MEPs and Commissioners than for national politicians • Commissioner formally independent of national interests, but often seen as an advocate for them • Right to vote in European and municipal elections in other member states, but not national elections

9. Shared influence: in Lisbon treaty • Wider powers for the European Parliament • Commission president to be elected by the European Parliament after the elections • Council of Ministers required to legislate in public • Citizens’ initiative

10. Shared influence: other developments • European parties nominate candidates for Commission president? • A common election day for EP elections? • MEPs elected from transnational lists?

11. Shared influence: British perspective • Low turnout in European elections and low recognition of MEPs – regional list system weakens identification and lacks credibility • Conservatives refuse to be part of main centre-right grouping • Little media coverage of EU affairs • Low level of recruitment of UK citizens into EU institutions – 5% of staff

12. Shared identity: prior to Lisbon • Exchange schemes, e.g. ERASMUS, Leonardo • EU funding for cultural programmes • Single market spin-offs, e.g. football • European flag and anthem often used • Free movement for EU citizens – 11 million EU citizens live in another member state; 13% of marriages are between citizens of different member states • The euro

13. Shared identity: in Lisbon treaty • Flag and anthem not added to the treaty • EU gains supporting competences in sport and tourism

14. Shared identity: other developments • ???

15. Shared identity: British perspective • Low rate of speaking or understanding foreign languages (62% speak only English) • Government practice not to use the European flag except where pushed • Europe Day is not generally celebrated • Outside Schengen • Outside the euro (and illogically proud)

16. Shared resources: prior to Lisbon • EU budget maximum level of 1.23 % of GDP (3% of public spending) • Redistribution: farming (40%), regional development (35%) • European Court of Auditors qualifies the EU accounts every year • EU policies on conservation – birds, habitats, etc • EU attempting to be world leader in fight against climate change • EU policy on fisheries

17. Shared resources: in Lisbon treaty • Budget not affected • EP gains co-decision power over the budget

18. Shared resources: other developments • Age of austerity - pressure to reduce the budget • Sovereign debt guarantees in eurozone, implying greater financial solidarity between rich and poor • EU marginalised in Copenhagen summit; climate change policies declining in profile and significance

19. Shared resources: British perspective • Net budget contributor (one of the largest) • Rebate needs to be defended • Some parts of the country receive extensive European funding • UK fishing industry has been in decline, wrongly blamed on EU policy • Won’t be part of the sovereign debt guarantee arrangement, in whatever form it emerges

20. Conclusion: shared justice • A programme that delivered rights to British citizens might be welcomed • But will have an impact on UK legal practice • The benefits will be seen and felt rarely, the impact will be more visible • The single market had this PR problem

21. Conclusion: shared influence • European Parliament undervalued in public opinion • Political parties remain distant • Will the choice of Commission president be put to the public in 2014? • Will Conservatives rejoin the centre-right grouping?

22. Conclusion: shared identity • No substantial lobby in politics for Britain to join Schengen or the euro • New government is encouraging the learning of foreign languages in school, reversing the policy of its predecessor

23. Conclusion: shared resources • Exclusion from sovereign debt guarantee system - yet another way in which the British are different • The notion of Europe as a leader in the fight against climate change possible, but environmental policies do not have their former salience

24. Thank you!