Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

This Blog has a traditional position of pro-EU and pro federal governance for the economies of the Euro. This remains the case. What is changing is a feeling that, whilst a successful euro zone is very much in British interests overall, its own membership of the EU may not be.

There are several reasons for this, none of them overwhelming, but in combination significant. First it must be stated that European unity is one of the great prizes of history when set against the carnage and suffering of centuries of conflict. The epicentre of all these upheavals have mainly focused, especially in the last two hundred years, on Germany or previously the German states, France and the countries of eastern Europe. Most, but not all, of these are now in the euro, but three members dominate; Germany, France and Italy. Of these, Germany is the biggest and most economically disciplined as well as the richest. For this reason it is Germany which will dominate the other two and the three together will dominate the rest. This has a positive and negative side. If they are collectively doing well everyone is uplifted, but if they have problems, the rest are dragged down. But however you slice it, put it, write it or argue it, Germany is the leading power.

Next comes the nature of government. Europe was slower in general than Britain to get to democracy as the preferred method of government. Germany, Italy and France all have post war constitutions and institutions; the first two because of they embraced Fascist dictatorship and lost the war and France because its post war Fourth republic collapsed in chaos and was rebuilt as its Fifth by De Gaulle.  Europeans have always favoured regulation and enjoy a multiplicity of councils and other competing organs which ensures on the one hand that everything runs smoothly in the hands of bureaucrats and on the other it is difficult for politicians to interfere to change things. Witness the current crisis which is much more about political decisiveness than economic failure.

It is not necessary to list the ways in which much of this is a cultural jar to the British, with their preference for decisive government, individual responsibility and minimal regulation. What began as a Common Market is now something much more. What it is, is very good indeed for the nations on the European Continent, who should be applauded and encouraged to unify still further. For the people of the British Isles, this is, while right for Europe, not the path which instinctively the island people wish to follow. Sooner or later the United Kingdom will have to face up to that. This Blog suspects that a majority of its people already has.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 24th, 2011 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Malcolm Blair Robinson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.