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MP CALLS FOR 'A PEOPLE'S EUROPE'
'The world belongs to well-governed, self-governing communities which are not in any one trade bloc.'
That was the message spelt out by David Heathcoat-Amory in the address to the Island's Euroclub.
The long-serving Conservative MP who is opposed to the UK adopting the euro, and to the new EU Constitution, added: 'We have to think globally.'
Mr Heathcoat-Amory was one of the UK's Parliamentary representatives to the Convention on the European Union, which was responsible for developing the initial draft of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for the EU. He felt unable to sign the final report of the Convention and instead was one of a small group of members who submitted an alternative report entitled 'A Europe of Democracies', which called for a smaller, more democratic EU.
Mr Heathcoat-Amory told Euroclub that he was interested in the future of self-governing islands and their integration into the world order. Iceland was a good example of a successful island, which had come from poverty in the 19th century to achieve a high standard of living. This demonstrated 'the death of distance' and the importance of what you do, as opposed to where you are.
He said the EU was far too inward-looking and obsessed with internal arrangements and harmonisation, rather than the real challenge of competing in the wider world. This was 'a huge misallocation of effort', he said.
Turning to the development of the European Constitution, Mr Heathcoat-Amory said this project had betrayed its mandate, which was to produce a simpler, more democratic Europe closer to its citizens. Instead it had tried to treat Europe as if it were a country like the USA, which it was not.
The Constitution consolidated more power to the centre, to those very institutions which had created the problems of remoteness and isolation in the first place. It made the European Union a legal body — with a single structure including foreign policy, justice and home affairs — that could operate as if it were a state.
Majority voting would become the norm, though unanimity would be retained in such areas as tax, foreign affairs and defence. The Constitution would have unqualified primacy over national laws.
The Constitution certainly did not, as claimed, bring certainty, clarity and finality to the development of Europe. Highly political questions on rights, for example, would be left to be decided by judges at the European Court of Justice.
On the implications of all this for the Isle of Man, Mr Heathcoat-Amory said the Island was affected by the EU, even though Protocol 3 protected it against direct intrusion. The Savings Tax Directive, applied via the UK Government, was an example of such influence.
'You can't be totally insulated from Europe — the Constitution is dangerous for you too', he warned the local audience.
'In practice you will be drawn along in the slipstream of these developments. There is the theoretical protection of Protocol 3 but I am not sure this is a firebreak that will guard you in the future.'
Mr Heathcoat-Amory felt it was likely that the UK, with its maritime tradition of global trade, could be the only Member State to reject the European Constitution through its referendum. That would bring an opportunity for the UK to negotiate a new relationship with Europe, on which it would have to consult carefully with its friends, including the Isle of Man.
Describing the UK's current relationship with the EU as unhealthy and unpopular, he commented: 'There is another Europe trying to be born — a people's Europe not a politician's Europe.'
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Weather for Isle of Man
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 7 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
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