Brussels, 22/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 22 July, the British government published the first of two series of reports on the impact on the United Kingdom of being a member of the European Union.
Drawn up with a number of stakeholders, the first report looks at six areas - the single market, taxation, animal health and welfare and food safety, health, development cooperation and humanitarian aid and foreign policy.
“At a time when the EU is facing considerable challenges and discussion on the EU in Britain is intensifying, it is vitally important that the debate in the UK is as well-informed as possible. These reports make a valuable contribution not only to the debate in this country but also to the debate taking place in other European nations about the future of the EU”, said British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
One of the reports makes a positive assessment of the UK's membership of the single market in terms of laws and the economy, although it points out legal constraints on cross-border trade for companies registered in the UK. The British say that the EU could do more to free up trade in transport, energy and telecoms. Particular focus is put on the single digital market, conclusion of which could be profitable to the UK because the UK's online trade is the biggest in Europe, explains McKinsey. The report says that market liberalisation could focus more on the recognition of rules rather than regulatory harmonisation, which it sees as a potential source of red tape. It recommends that draft legislation be screened to assess its potential economic impact, and a red box system for national parliaments to veto legislation.
Unsurprisingly, the report on taxation says that the United Kingdom must retain power over taxation and any action at EU level should be justified in terms of concluding the single market. One of the challenges noted by the authors is the effect on British tax sovereignty of current changes to taxation through enhanced cooperation, that bypasses the obstacle of unanimous voting at Council of Ministers' level. The report explicitly mentions here the plan by eleven member states to introduce a financial transactions tax.
The United Kingdom acknowledged the fact that the EU's external policy has the advantage of allowing multiple intervention instruments to be integrated. In these times of budgetary austerity, the EU's action in Bosnia and Herzegovina has allowed London to focus its resources on intervention elsewhere, such as Afghanistan. The size of the single market creates a leverage effect, giving the member states extra weight in the opening-up of third-country markets. Nonetheless, the report stresses a number of problems in the EU's external action: the lack of strategic orientations, the slow speed of decision-making, the diverging interests of the member states and the complexity of financial assistance.
Between now and autumn 2014, 26 further areas of activities will be assessed. The future reports will deal with the free movement of goods and persons, asylum and immigration, civil justice, trade and investment, climate change and the environment, transport and research. (MB/transl.fl)