Brussels, 28/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - In a resolution it adopted on Tuesday 28 June, at an extraordinary plenary session called after the referendum in the United Kingdom was won by those in favour of their country leaving the European Union, the European Parliament took a majority position in favour of a “roadmap to a better Union”.
Reiterating that the “approval of the Parliament is required under the Treaties”, the MEPs wish to be “fully involved in all stages of the procedures” regarding both the agreement for the United Kingdom's exit and any future relationship between it and the future Union of 27 member states. Having initially called for the immediate triggering of article 50 of the Treaty, which will start the procedure of leaving the EU (011581), they ended up calling for negotiations between the EU and the United Kingdom to begin “as soon as possible”, as the outgoing British Prime Minister, David Cameron, was not expected to trigger the withdrawal procedure at the European Council which began on Tuesday (see other article).
During a debate which was attended by almost the entire College of European Commissioners, including the outgoing British Commissioner Jonathan Hill (see EUROPE 11581), the President of the Parliament, Germany's Martin Schulz, said that the desire to leave the EU expressed by a majority of the British should be respected. Speaking on behalf of the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said that “the United Kingdom is and will remain a European nation, as we share the same values, the same hopes”. “Europe is more than just an intellectual exercise. We need to keep things in proportion, but we also need to say that the vote has left us saddened. I'm not a technocrat, I was elected by this assembly (…). I'm not a robot, I'm a European”, said the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. Clearly affected in his firm beliefs, the former Luxembourg leader said that he was “neither tired nor sick”, promising to fight “to his last breath” in favour of a united Europe which preserves peace and feeds prosperity.
Future of the European Union. With the heads of state or government getting ready for a meeting of twenty-seven on Wednesday without the United Kingdom to discuss the future of their relationship, the Parliament stressed in its resolution that the "current challenges call for a reflection on the future of the European Union", to make the Union "more democratic" and capable of overcoming “persistent economic and social uncertainty”, as the citizens expect. “While some member states may choose to integrate more slowly or to a lesser extent, the core of the EU must be reinforced and à la carte solutions should be avoided”, the MEPs added.
The pro-European political forces reiterated their vision of the Europe they expressed off the cuff on Friday 24 June, following the announcement of the results of the British referendum (see EUROPE 11580).
“We must rise up and fight to defend the European project”, said Germany's Manfred Weber on behalf of the EPP group, stressing that he was “Bavarian, German and a committed European”. The President of the S&D, Italy's Gianni Pittella, stressed the need to “reaffirm the powers of democracy over the hidden powers of the financial caste”. He spoke in favour of a socially irreproachable Europe by fighting fiscal and social dumping, a position which was also defended by Gabriele Zimmer (GUE/NGL, Germany). Pittella went on to re-float the idea of the President of the European Commission being elected by direct universal suffrage. Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, Belgium), said that sketching out the future of the old continent would not be too arduous a task. “There's no need for imagination, we just need good memories to return to the ideas of the founding fathers”, he said, calling for a “government of the Eurozone, European border guards, a European capacity to fight terrorism, the European defence community, as the Americans are no longer prepared to pay”. For the Greens/EFA group, Belgium's Philippe Lamberts listed three options: the sort of nationalistic and xenophobic introspection touted by Nigel Farage (EFDD, UK) and Marine Le Pen (ELN, France), maintaining the “neoliberal orthodoxy” which reins in the powers of the states but frees the market forces, a “resolutely pro-European option at odds with the single worldview” and that puts human dignity back at the very heart of politics. “There will be no wall high enough or thick enough to isolate Europe from the challenges of the 21st century”, he said.
Europhobes in jubilant mood
“Funny, isn't it?” joked Nigel Farage. “When I came here 17 years ago and I said that I wanted to lead a campaign to get Britain out of the European Union, you all laughed at me. Well you're not laughing now!” He criticised the attitude of the pro-Europeans, who he said were “in denial”: the currency has failed, they are imposing poverty on Greece and the massive arrival of refugees with the backing of Mrs Merkel has sown dissension! Well, the British have said 'enough is enough', because “you imposed political union on them”, he added, referring also to earlier referendums in France, the Netherlands and Ireland. To vigorous booing from the hemicycle, he predicted that “the United Kingdom won't be the last member state to leave the EU”. As for the negotiations on its withdrawal from the Union, better not wait too long, he acknowledged, taking the view that no agreement at all on the new relationship between the UK and the Union would “be no worse than the rotten agreement we have now”.
Several leadership figures - including Mr Weber, Mr Verhofstadt and Mr Juncker - accused the MEP of having lied to his compatriots, particularly the regarding the forthcoming accession of Turkey to the EU and the millions of pounds sterling paid into the Community budget that would be reinvested in the social sector in the United Kingdom. Verhofstadt compared the claims of Farage's UKIP party to Nazi propaganda. “History will judge those who sold a lie” and plunged the country into “institutional chaos”, Pittella said. Zimmer spoke out against Farage's vision, which is “even more neoliberal” than that of the current British government. What will linger in the long term is “fear”.
The results of the referendum have been a boon to the Eurosceptics. Marine Le Pen (ENL, France) described the decision of the majority of the British as “the triumph of the will of a people”, “a signal of liberty” sent out to the entire world. This event, “by far” the most important in Europe since the fall of the Berlin wall, this “cri d'amour” for the Nations and “economic patriotism”, is a “slap in the face” to the proponents of a European system based on fear and lies, to those who impose “perpetual poverty” and mass immigration. “Don't be angry, rejoice!” said the extreme right MEP, who is prepared to hold a similar referendum in France if she is elected President of the Republic in spring 2017.
“You don't get it”, was criticism directed by Ryszard Antoni Legutko (ECR, Poland) at the pro-European members who, he argues, use the same refrain, “possibly with a bit more emotion”, to criticise nationalists and chauvinists. He said that the results of the British referendum are “bad news for the European Union, but not for the British, who will do very well out of it”.
On a more measured note, the President of the ECR group, British Conservative Syed Kamall, called on his colleagues to “keep a cool head” so that they could ultimately end up with an agreement that was beneficial to the United Kingdom and the Union. He hopes that the British will be able to unite to state that they remain a “tolerant nation” and “become good neighbours” of the European Union. “We now need to make the best of where we are”, the outgoing Commissioner, Jonathan Hill, said philosophically. He said on Twitter that he had been “deeply moved by the generosity of the European Parliament”.
The Scottish and Northern Irish call for help.
Whatever the winning side of the British referendum might say, the prospect of the United Kingdom leaving the EU has plunged the country into a deep institutional crisis. After 62% of the Scottish voted for the status quo, the Scottish National Party (SNP), which is in power in Scotland, is looking at institutional channels that would allow it to block a Brexit and has started preparations for a second referendum on Scottish independence, following the failed plebiscite in September 2014. SNP MEP Alyn Smith (Greens/EFA, UK) said that he was “proud to be Scottish and European”. “The Scottish and Northern Irish people voted to stay in the family of European nations. I call for their status to be respected”, he said, addressing a hemicycle that was firmly on his side. He added: “Scotland did not let you down, so don't let Scotland down now!”
Along similar lines Sinn Fein member Martina Anderson (GUE/NGL, UK), pointed out that the majority of the Northern Irish had voted to stay in the EU. “We call upon you to respect our votes. The last thing Ireland needs is a European border in the middle of Ireland”, she stressed. She went on to criticise the Commission and the member states for not having heeded the warnings about Europe's “antisocial and antidemocratic practices”. “Time to change tack”, she said. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)