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Johnstone's View 8th April 2009

With a European Parliamentary election now on the horizon, more people than usual have been choosing to ask me where I stand on the future of the European Union. Well I believe that we need an open, flexible Europe, whose priorities reflect those of the peoples of Europe.

It is however, profoundly undemocratic and arrogant that Labour and the Lib Dems have forced the Lisbon Treaty through Parliament without the British people having any say over it, especially after the Republic of Ireland rejected it in a referendum in June 2008. Following that rejection, Gordon Brown should have either declared this Treaty dead, or called a referendum and let the British people have their say.

Of course, the Irish decision should have been respected and allowed to stand. Instead though, we now have the absurd and undemocratic situation that the Irish people are being made to vote twice before the British people are allowed to vote once. 

The Lisbon Treaty is in substance essentially the same as the previously proposed EU Constitution. It should be subject to the referendum of the British people that every major political party promised at the last election. If the Treaty is not in force by the next general election, a Conservative Government will hold such a referendum and campaign for a ‘no’ vote. If the British people rejected the Treaty it would be finished.

Even if the Lisbon Treaty is forced upon us before the next general election is held, the Treaty would still have no democratic legitimacy, the British people would have had no opportunity to have their say on it either in a referendum or at an election. Accordingly, that situation would not be acceptable to an incoming Conservative Government and we would not let matters rest there.

An incoming Conservative Government would seek to move competence back to the United Kingdom in a number of areas include the restoration of our opt-out from the Social Chapter. Existing Social Chapter legislation that has been enacted into national law would not necessarily be abolished but adapted as the new government saw fit. The proposed Agency Workers Directive would have no application in Britain.

We would also amend the 1972 European Communities Act so that any future EU Treaty that transfers competences from the United Kingdom to the European Union would be subject to a referendum of the British people. It would no longer be possible for governments to hand over power to the EU without the British people‘s explicit permission. Compliance by Ministers, as defined in the amendment, would be subject to judicial review. Ultimately, it would not be for Ministers to decide whether a Treaty transferred competences or not.

Given the growth of the EU‘s powers, British sovereignty and the ultimate supremacy of Parliament need a constitutional safeguard, but the legal implications of any such provision must be absolutely clear.

The Conservatives continue to support the enlargement of the European Union and will support further inclusion of countries that meet the relevant criteria, including those on human rights and economic readiness for the Single Market. We accept that, at the very least, transitional measures restricting the free movement of workers will be needed. We support the ultimate membership ambitions of the Ukraine, Georgia and those countries in the Western Balkans who aspire to join the EU.

It is right that Britain, one of the world‘s oldest democracies, should stand up for Georgia, one of the world‘s youngest. Whatever the criticisms of Georgia‘s actions, Russia‘s invasion of Georgia in August 2008 was a wholly disproportionate act of aggression. Europe needs to show united resolve in dealing with Russia. There must be no new EU-Russia partnership agreement until Russia has fully complied with the terms of the ceasefire agreement and allows ethnic Georgian refugees to return to their homes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

European countries also need to look again at their energy security in light of Russia‘s behavior, but with so many people here in the north east of Scotland now actually working in the oil and gas industry in former Soviet Union countries, we have a real vested interest in strengthening our relationships and taking a strong economic negotiating position with the Russians.

The United Kingdom is in the European Union because it makes sense to be so. Our membership has, on occasions, threatened our sovereignty and that is why we need a strong government who will defend our place and our priorities. That is what we have had in the past, and what we have been missing for too long now.