CURRENT AFFAIR
BREXIT
What Britain wants from Europe
Britain’s four key objectives are:
Economic governance:
· Securing an explicit recognition that the euro is not the only currency of the European Union, to ensure countries outside the euro zone are not materially disadvantaged.
· The UK wants safeguards that steps to further financial union cannot be imposed on non-euro zone members and the UK will not have to contribute to euro zone bailouts
Competitiveness:
· Setting a target for the reduction of the "burden" of excessive regulation and extending the single market.
Immigration:
· Restricting access to in-work and out-of-work benefits to EU migrants. Specifically, ministers want to stop those coming to the UK from claiming certain benefits until they have been resident for four years. Ministers have reportedly been warned by the UK's top civil servant this could be discriminatory and any limits may be reduced to less than a year. An option of an "emergency brake" to stop the payments for four years is being discussed as a compromise deal.
Sovereignty:
· Allowing Britain to opt out from the EU's founding ambition to forge an "ever closer union" of the peoples of Europe so it will not be drawn into further political integration.
· Giving greater powers to national parliaments to block EU legislation.
· The Conservatives want to free business from red tape and "excessive interference" from Brussels and to provide access to new markets through "turbo charging" free trade deals with America and Asia.
· They also want trade barriers in the services and digital sectors to be removed to create a truly single market as well as specific protections for the City of London.
· They support continued enlargement of the EU to new members but with new mechanisms in place to "prevent vast migrations across the Continent".
· The prime minister has said Britain would resist any move towards a European Army and that he wants to free British police forces from EU interference.
· He has also ruled out Britain joining the euro.
· But he has placed less emphasis in recent years on demanding changes to EU social policy, such as the maximum 48-hour working week, agency workers, maternity leave and non-discrimination rules - amid pressure from trade unions to leave such protections intact.
· The Conservatives will attempt to repeal the Human Rights Act, which requires UK courts to treat the European Court of Human Rights as setting legal precedents for the UK, in favour of a British Bill of Rights.
· The European Court of Human Rights is not a European Union institution.
· It was set up by the Council of Europe (CoE), which has 47 members including Russia and Ukraine.
· David Cameron says that if necessary he would back a new law reasserting the power of the UK Parliament over the EU.
· The freedom for people to move around Europe, enshrined in the EU treaties, works in parallel with the other three basic freedoms in the single market: freedom of goods, capital and services. It is a "red line" for other EU leaders, who do not want to see it eroded.
· Mr. Cameron's decision to seek the four year ban on some UK benefits for EU migrants was a way round it, but a number of EU countries - including Hungary and Poland - say they will not accept anything which discriminates against their nationals.
· This has led to reports that the idea of an "emergency brake" to limit numbers when there has been a surge of migrants, might be back on the agenda.
His main proposals were:
· Four year delay for EU migrants wishing to claim in-work benefits, such as tax credits, or seeking access to social housing
· Stopping migrants claiming child benefit for dependents living outside the UK
· Removing migrants from the UK after six months if they have not found work
· Restricting the right of migrants to bring non-EU family members into the UK
· Stopping EU jobseekers claiming Universal Credit
· Speeding up deportation of convicted criminals
· Longer re-entry bans for beggars and fraudsters removed from the UK
· Stopping citizens from new EU entrants working in the UK until their economies have "converged more closely".
· Extra money for communities with high levels of migrants
Mr. Cameron agreed a package of changes to the UK's membership of the EU after two days of intensive talks with other member states' leaders in Brussels in February. The agreement, which will take effect immediately if the UK votes to remain in the EU, includes changes to:
· Child benefit - Child benefit payments to migrant workers for children living overseas to be recalculated to reflect the cost of living in their home countries
· Migrant welfare payments - The UK can decide to limit in-work benefits for EU migrants during their first four years in the UK. This so-called "emergency brake" can be applied in the event of "exceptional" levels of migration, but must be released within seven years - without exception.
· Eurozone - Britain can keep the pound while being in Europe, and its business trade with the bloc, without fear of discrimination. Any British money spent on bailing out eurozone nations will be reimbursed.
· Protection for the City of London - Safeguards for Britain's large financial services industry to prevent euro zone regulations being imposed on it
· Sovereignty - There is an explicit commitment that the UK will not be part of an "ever closer union" with other EU member states. This will be incorporated in an EU treaty change.
· 'Red card' for national parliaments - It will be easier for governments to band together to block unwanted legislation. If 55% of national EU parliaments object to a piece of EU legislation it will be rethought.
· Competitiveness - The settlement calls on all EU institutions and member states to "make all efforts to fully implement and strengthen the internal market" and to take "concrete steps towards better regulation", including by cutting red tape.
· Some limits on free movement - Denying automatic free movement rights to nationals of a country outside the EU who marry an EU national, as part of measures to tackle "sham" marriages. There are also new powers to exclude people believed to be a security risk - even if they have no previous convictions.
Mr. Cameron had originally wanted a complete ban on migrants sending child benefit abroad but had to compromise after some eastern European states rejected that and also insisted that existing claimants should continue to receive the full payment. On how long the UK would be able to have a four-year curb on in-work benefits for new arrivals, Mr Cameron had to give way on hopes of it being in place for 13 years, settling for seven instead. On financial regulation, a clause was inserted "to ensure the level-playing field within the internal market". This was in response to French fears that Britain was seeking special protection for the City of London that would have given it a competitive advantage. Critics argue that the final deal falls well short of what Mr. Cameron originally promised when he announced his plan for a referendum, particularly when it comes to returning powers from Brussels.
Britain had a referendum in 1975 shortly after it had joined the EU, or the Common Market as it was then called. The country voted to stay in then but there have been growing calls, from the public and politicians, for another vote because, they argue, the EU has changed a lot over the past 40 years, with many more countries joining and the organisation extending its control over more aspects of daily lives. David Cameron initially resisted these calls but in 2013 he changed his mind.
· They believe Britain is being held back by the EU, which they say imposes too many rules on business and charges billions of pounds a year in membership fees for little in return.
· They also want Britain to take back full control of its borders and reduce the number of people coming here to work.
· One of the main principles of EU membership is "free movement", which means you don't need to get a visa to go and live in another EU country.
· They also object to the idea of "ever closer union" and any ultimate goal to create a "United States of Europe".
They believe Britain gets a big boost from EU membership - it makes selling things to other EU countries easier and, they argue, the flow of immigrants, most of whom are young and keen to work, fuels economic growth and helps pay for public services. They also believe Britain's status in the world would be damaged by leaving and that we are more secure as part of the bloc.
