Strasbourg, 03/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - The majority of members of the European Parliament called for the United Kingdom to stay in the European Union, during a debate on Wednesday 3 February to prepare for the European summit of 18 and 19 February, which will focus on this issue and the migration challenge.
The President of the European Parliament, Jean-Claude Juncker, described as “fair” the draft agreement on a revision of the relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom, which was presented the day before by the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk (see EUROPE 11481). During the debate, however, the draft raised certain concerns from the MEPs, particularly as regards the plank on the freedom of movement of persons and social benefits linked to work.
“The Commission supports this text”, Juncker said. “I've always said that I wanted the United Kingdom to remain a member of the EU on the basis of a fair agreement. The solution which has been proposed is fair on the United Kingdom and fair on the other 27 member states. It is also fair on the European Parliament”, which will have its part to play, he added.
The President of the Commission explained that the draft agreement respects a number of key principles. First of all, although it must be acknowledged that “the UK has reached the limits of its level of integration”, it must also be “clearly stated that the others may make progress towards greater integration”. London already has many more derogations than the others, which in Juncker's view proves that there is no need to make any changes to the principle of an ever-closer Union, as this principle already accommodates the pace of integration preferred by the UK.
Juncker went on to say that the draft respects “two imperatives”, more specifically “preserving the integrity of the single market whilst deepening our economic and monetary union”. He feels that Tusk's plan will make it possible to “protect the legitimate interests of the member states participating in the single market without being members of the eurozone”. “These member states must be given the opportunity to bring matters before the European Council, if they feel that the principle of non-discrimination may have been violated. It is legitimate to release these member states from financial liability related to measures taken to ensure the stability of the eurozone”, President Juncker said. At the same time, however, the project also stipulates that the euro “remains the sole currency of the EU”, he stressed, satisfied that the “possibility of having more Europe within the eurozone in order to reinforce the single currency (has) been respected”.
As for the question of the freedom of movement, Juncker acknowledged that this was the toughest question to resolve. We intend to set in place a safeguard mechanism aiming to limit access to social benefits for newcomers to the employment market “for a period of four years, limited in time”. “This is an exceptional case”, the former Luxembourg Prime Minister said. He explained that the United Kingdom is in a difficult situation today, which justifies this mechanism, as it did not make use of the interim measures set in place to regulate the arrival of workers from the 13 new member states since 2004 to the employment markets of the other member states. “The result is that the United Kingdom has attracted considerable numbers of people”, Juncker said.
The President of the Commission also pledged that the campaign and debate on the British referendum on keeping the United Kingdom in the EU, which is expected to take place on 23 June, will not slow down the work on a pillar of social rights in Europe or worker secondment. Certain individuals believe that the delay in these texts is due to the negotiations underway with the United Kingdom (see EUROPE 11477).
EP anticipates benefits for all of the EU, but concerns remain over freedom of movement
Speaking on behalf of the EPP group, Germany's Manfred Weber argued for the British to remain in the EU. He said that the draft agreement could be used to improve the functioning of the EU for all and boost competitiveness whilst reducing red tape. As the euro remains the currency of the EU, he said that it was important for London to be inclined to support the deepening of economic and monetary union. The German MEP did, however, have reservations over the social benefits linked to the freedom of movement, pointing out that a European citizen who works in the United Kingdom and pays tax there also naturally wishes to have access to these benefits.
Italy's Gianni Pittella, leader of the S&D, said that it should be stressed that the United Kingdom would be weaker without the EU and that there are benefits to which British citizens are entitled as European citizens.
Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, Belgium) said that the United Kingdom should be given an opt out on the question of the ever-closer Union, an area which the Dutch Foreign Minister, Bert Koenders, who attended the meeting in Strasbourg, did not feel is relevant. Although the Belgian leader said that the question of refugees was more crucial than the British question, he said that it “would be a cardinal mistake to allow the UK to leave”, from both an economic and diplomatic point of view. The Liberal MEP accepted the possibility of activating the safeguard mechanism in relation to the freedom of movement for the United Kingdom. However, there must then be an end to these derogations and they should not be used as soon as a leader has a problem with public opinion in his country, he said.
Gabi Zimmer (GUE/NGL, Germany) said that the mechanism limiting the freedom of movement of Europeans in the United Kingdom is quite simply a “genuflection to London”. If one of the founding principles is “undermined” and “if we renounce the principle of equal pay for equal work, it cannot function”, she argued.
The Conservative leader at the EP, Syed Kamall of the UK, described Tusk's proposals as a good starting point. It matters little what the MEPs or the other European leaders have to say about it: what ultimately counts is “what the British people say”, he said. His compatriot from the ECR group, Timothy Kirkhope, said that the draft could allow a good agreement between all Twenty-Eight and respond to the principal concerns, even if “it won't satisfy those who have always wanted to leave the EU”.
The Eurosceptic Nigel Farage (EFDD, UK) expressed his regret that (the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has undertaken to campaign to keep his country in the EU, an attitude Farage described as “handing over all his powers to the EU”, in the grey buildings “of Luxembourg”.
David Cameron asks Parliament for its support
Addressing the national parliament, Cameron called on the British members of Parliament to get behind him in his plans to reform the EU and to keep the country in this reformed Union. “If you want to see an end to 'giving without receiving', if you want to bring Great Britain out of an ever-closer union, if you want equity between members and non-members of the eurozone and if you want a more competitive Europe, let us fight this fight together”, said the Prime Minister, who went on to stress that “there is still a lot of work to do”.
Cameron said that once the agreement between the Twenty-Eight has been reached, the government will decide whether to accept or reject the compromise. From that point onwards, the British ministers will be free to choose their camp. When asked about the request by the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland not to hold the referendum in June, he said that a four-month campaign was quite sufficient. He added that the safeguard mechanism on the freedom of movement, which did not call for treaty change but for European legislation, could be in place shortly after the referendum. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)