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BREXIT: THE LAST CHANCE FOR EUROPE AND THE UNITED KINGDOM?
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reopen the debate about joining the euro. The
priorities for British pro-Europeans are the
completion of the Single Market to strengthen
productivity in different economic sectors and
to promote European competitiveness, the crea-
tion of the Capital Markets Union, the conclu-
sion of trade negotiations with the United States
(TTIP), China and Japan, the reduction of excess
regulation and red tape, and the strengthening
of foreign policy and shared security. Other pri-
orities include the reform and partial repatria-
tion of regional policy (structural funds and CAP
reform) to make it more streamlined and green-
er, and a desire to slim down EU institutions and
government, all of which combine with contin-
uing mistrust of the European social dimension.
British pro-Europeans and Eurosceptics share
a number of goals, some of which differ starkly
from the aspirations of their counterparts on
the Continent or even certain objectives that
have already been achieved. Thus, anything re-
lated to political union and the progressive
strengthening of the democratic legitimacy of
EU institutions is to be contested. Similarly, any-
thing that might weaken or dilute the commu-
nity’s intergovernmental decision-making pro-
cess is criticised and opposed, even by British
pro-Europeans, a good example being the
transfer of power to allow the European
Parliament to elect the president of the European
Commission. Both attitudes aim to preserve the
powers of the European Council and strengthen
the role of national parliaments (and not exactly
in the way set out in the Lisbon Treaty).
In short, pro-European sentiments in the UK
do not map directly onto equivalent views on
the Continent. Debates and reflections take
place in an extremely different environment,
one that is highly pragmatic and almost exclu-
sively focused on the economic dimension of
the EU and its role in the world, without room
for political union. British pro-EU sentiment
leads to clear contradictions: on the one hand,
it is against opt-outs, yet its failure to back pro-
gress in political union, a key factor in the de-
bate regarding “ever closer union”, makes it
impossible to avoid having recourse to new opt-
outs in the future, in spite of their unpopularity
among British supporters of the EU.
Immigration
EU immigrants contribute to the UK’s economic
and cultural wealth, as is also true of immigrants
from many non-EU countries. The debate often
overlooks the other side of freedom of move-
ment in the EU: approximately 1 million British
citizens living in Spain, 330,000 in France,
330,000 in Ireland and 65,000 in Cyprus, ac-
cording to 2015 figures. The level of activity, oc-
cupation, entrepreneurship and education
among this group is higher than the average for
the British population as a whole, while they
place less burden on the welfare state and the
benefits system (although there are clear differ-
ences between immigrants from France, Italy
and Spain, and those who come from eastern
Europe).
Reforming the EU, the Eurozone
and the pound
One of the main arguments used by British
Eurosceptics is that the crisis affecting the euro
makes the EU less attractive for a UK that is at-
tached to the pound. Similarly, the possibility of
the Eurozone countries making progress toward
political union, electing a finance minister, har-
monising their tax systems and adopting a uni-
fied position with respect to major international