European citizenship and the British

Richard Laming

20 January 2010

Four dimensions of citizenship

• Shared justice

• Shared influence

• Shared identity

• Shared resources

Features of European citizenship

• Prior to the Lisbon treaty

• In the Lisbon treaty itself

• In other recent developments

• British perspective

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

Shared justice: in Lisbon treaty

• General move to Community method for legislation

• Charter of Fundamental Rights has legal force

• Anti-discrimination provisions retained

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”

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

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

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

Shared influence: other developments

• European parties nominate candidates for Commission president?

• A common election day for EP elections?

• MEPs elected from transnational lists?

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

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

Shared identity: in Lisbon treaty

• Flag and anthem not added to the treaty

• EU gains supporting competences in sport and tourism

Shared identity: other developments

• ???

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)

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

Shared resources: in Lisbon treaty

• Budget not affected• EP gains co-decision power over the budget

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

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

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

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?

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

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

Thank you!