Daniel Hannan: We must quit the EU

Tory MEP Daniel Hannan makes the case for leaving the EU in today's Sunday Telegraph.

Mr Hannan says that the EU's "ever closer union" doctrine will mean that it never becomes the loose Europe of nation states that most Britons keep hoping for.  Our political leaders keep telling the British voter that Europe is moving in 'our direction'.  Sometimes they cite the impact of enlargement or a change of government in a key European power.  This has always been "wishful thinking" Hannan writes:

"Every enlargement round, for example, was hailed as likely to lead to a looser Europe. In practice, of course, the EU has deepened each time it has widened: the accession of Spain and Portugal led directly to the Single European Act, that of the Nordic countries to the Amsterdam Treaty, and that of the ex-Comecon states to the European Constitution...  Absurd as it now seems, Jacques Chirac, Silvio Berlusconi, José-María Aznar and even Gerhard Schröder were all written up in advance of their elections as likely British allies."

So what to do?  Most British people want to retain Britain's trade links with the EU and work closely with other governments but they reject the increasing "political assimilitation" of today's EU.  Mr Hannan recommends that Britain negotiates something akin to the relationship that the European Free Trade Area nations have with Europe:

"Each of these countries has struck its own particular deal with Brussels, but the main elements are the same. They participate fully in the four freedoms of the single market - free movement of goods, services, people and capital. But they are outside the Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies, they control their own borders and human rights questions, they are free to negotiate trade accords with non-EU countries and they pay only a token sum to the EU budget."

We could call this leaving the EU, Mr Hannan writes, or "associate membership".  But the key lesson of the EFTA countries is that you can have good trade links with Europe and you don't have to have the political and regulatory baggage that comes with EU membership.

Comments

[A Complete Shower]

Ah, brave, daring Dan Hannan, cf. before the Euro elections - "I'll quit the whip if we go back into the EPP"; MHoward esq - "we'll take it away from you [and therefore cost you your seat at Strasbourg] if you don't shut up"; Dan the Bold - "..."

What a man: frothing anti-marketeerism during an interregnum - what courage - what audacity - no wonder Dan Hannan is so well regarded by his fellow Eurosceptics, and not regarded as an opportunistic careerist who urged on everyone the merits of his, as he thought, mate Howard in November 2003; and before that, refused to choose between Portillo and Duncan Smith in 2001 until Portillo had been chucked out by the MPs.

[James Maskell]

After reading the Telegraph comments I had to double check the name to make sure it wasnt Nigel Farage commenting on the EU!

[Selsdon Man]

Those who know Dan have heard him espouse such views several times over the last couple of years. I suspect that the article will lead to more trouble with the Whips Office.

[James Hellyer]

Is anyone surprised when Daniel Hannan says this? He was in charge of the OU branch of CIB, if I recall correctly, and is a friend of Lord Pearson.

Anyway, this is another issue we won't hear much about. Our politicians seem frightened to discuss such things.

[Peter C Glover]

At last! Someone with the ability to articulate genuine logic. You see if it is not possible to 're-negotiate' (as Michael Howard promised) important EU policies (and with respect it is not) then you must proceed to the next stage and consider your whole position.

This is where Michael H.needlessly villified those genuine conservatives who voted UKIP realising how important the issue was to sovereignty and that there MUST come a point when withdrawal is the only option.

The fact that Howard's Conservative Party would not even countenance it meant that its credibility on the issue was shot and, worse, the vast swathes of the country that would consider withdrawal simply had no voice at all.

[Oberon Houston]

Phillip Stephens writes in the FT today on the recent changes in the political landscape in Europe post the referendums in France and Holland, and concludes with...

" The opportunities could yet be squandered. Such is the neuralgia that some in the Tory party are already arguing that Europe’s disarray should be the occasion for Britain’s withdrawal. Similarly, there have been signs of Mr Brown’s scepticism hardening into outright hostility.
The reality is as it has always been: Britain cannot escape the consequences of decisions taken by its neighbours; and, as much as any other, it will share the burden of disarray. Anywhere you look, from the economy to the enviroment, from foreign and energy to immigration policy, Britain’s interests are intertwined with those of the rest of the European continent.
If the Franco-German alliance is no longer a sufficient condition for a cohesive Europe, it is still a necessary one. The difference now is that the old axis needs Britain to make the EU work. How many of the nation’s politicians, I wonder, will recognise the challenge and the opportunity?"

... Its safe to say that Daniel Hannan hasn't, and no matter what - won't.

I think those with a more pragmatic view will accept that the integration of France and Germany into a stable Europe is probably more important today with the recent emergence of a new world order than it has ever been, as a mechanism for avoiding a resurgence in Franco-German aggression. The EU is best placed to manage that, and we British need to best decide how best to build our position within that framework without the necessity of further integration.

[Peter]

Daniel Hannan is just saying what I think any sensible person would say. The problem of changing treaties is so great we have to include the possiblity of coming out of the EU, otherwise no change just people carrying on moaning but not doing anything. It took Ken ten years to find out he was wrong on the Euro, is the party going to take fifty to find out it was wrong on the EU itself?

[malcolm]

Good to hear Daniel being given some airtime on the 'Today'programme.I know I'm biased but I thought he hammered the Lib-Dem MEP he was up against who was reduced to trying and failing to patronise him on the grounds of his age!

[Natalie Rhodes]

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