Open Europe

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Eric says No to laws made by foreigners

Open Europe launches

Open Europe is a new independent think tank set up by some of the UK's leading business people to contribute bold new thinking to the debate about the future direction of the EU. It has been set up by some of the same people behind the successful no campaigns against the EU Constitution and the euro.

While the euro and the EU Constitution have been stopped, the battle is not over. The EU is still pushing failed policies which threaten our economy and our democracy. The EU's institutions are still plagued with corruption. Open Europe aims to set out new ideas, campaign for change, and map out an alternative vision for a different kind of Europe.

Open Europe launched on 20 October at the City headquarters of the Bloomberg news agency, with an audience of over 200 business leaders, academics, politicians from all the main parties and EU diplomats. At the launch, Open Europe revealed the findings of new research from leading economists Oxford Economic Forecasting. This, our first report, looks at the economic benefits of bringing down the EU's trade barriers and reforming the wasteful Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The main findings of our research were:

● We could be much better off. Getting rid of the barriers that the EU imposes on our trade with the rest of the world would boost Britain's economy. It would make a typical household of four £1,500 a year better off.

● The EU's trade barriers hit Britain hardest. Of the major EU economies, the UK has most to gain from trade liberalisation because over 50 percent of its trade is done with countries outside the EU. Britain, provides Brussels with 43 percent of the EU's total tax revenue from food imports. At the moment Britain is denied the benefits of free trade with its biggest trading partner, the US.

● The poorest people in Britain are hit hardest by the EU's trade taxes. The EU puts its highest tariffs on basic necessities like food and clothing, which take up a bigger proportion of the income of the poorest families. The report finds that the poorest tenth of people in the UK would gain proportionally six times more than the richest tenth from removing EU trade barriers.

● Poor countries face the highest EU trade barriers. The EU currently hits poor countries with even higher trade taxes than other rich countries. So developing countries stand to benefit most from free trade. Britain and Europe would gain from free trade - but poor countries could gain even more. Getting rid of trade barriers would boost Europe's economy by about 2 percent. But African GDP would increase by just under 6 percent - lifting millions out of poverty.

More details: Open Europe fact sheet

Open Europe: News in brief - October

EU 'sneaks in Charter'. The Sunday Telegraph has revealed that the EU is planning to give as much force as possible to the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, which was a key part of the EU Constitution. A new EU document proposes that the provisions of the Charter should be enshrined in EU legislation. The document "sets out a methodology for ensuring that the charter is properly implemented in commission proposals." All new laws will be subject to "systematic and rigorous monitoring" to ensure they comply with the Charter. Critics have argued that the document shows the EU is attempting to sneak parts of the Constitution through the "back door". (16 October)

Commissioner admits EU is project for a "small elite". Margot Wallstrom, the EU's Communications Commissioner, has launched a campaign to win over the hearts and minds of an increasingly sceptical European public. The campaign will be called "plan D for democracy", and it attempts to re-engage the people of Europe with the EU. At the launch of "plan D" Wallstrom admitted that until now the EU had been the creation of a "small elite" and had failed to connect with the public. She said, "This has been a project for a small elite, a political elite. That has worked - until now. It's clear that to convince Europeans to the European idea, the institutions have to change. The institutions must lead by example in their ability to reform and to be more transparent and more efficient." (Telegraph, 14 October)

EU directive costs church £1,300 to change light bulb. A priest has been charged £1,300 to have his light bulbs changed due to the EU's "working at height" directive. The directive says that a ladder can only be used if a risk assessment considers it to be so low risk that an alternative is not suitable. This meant that Father Sutch of St Benet's in Beccles, Norfolk, had to call in a specialist company to put up scaffolding to change the church light bulbs. Instead of taking two hours, as had previously been the case the job took two days and was more than six times the normal cost. (Daily Mail, 19 October)

MEPs call for common EU circus policy. MEPs have called for the EU to introduce a common EU circus policy. A report entitled "New challenges for the circus as part of European culture" was voted through by MEPs, who argued that circuses cross national borders and therefore should be subject to harmonised standards set by the EU. They called on the Commission "to prepare a comprehensive set of standards for mobile circus facilities and finalise current work on the Safety Standard for Temporary Structures (such as tents)." The report also proposed measures to deal with the education of children from travelling communities. (13 October)

Open Europe: Analysis

British EU presidency comes under the spotlight at Hampton Court

Nearly four months into the UK's presidency of the EU, EU leaders met on 27 October at Hampton Court for an informal summit. In the run-up to the meeting Tony Blair came under attack across Europe for being an "absent" EU president who has done little to move the reform agenda forward. On taking over the presidency at the beginning on July, Tony Blair set out an ambitious agenda for reform in a promising speech to the European Parliament, but has so far been a disappointment, particularly in the key areas of budgetary, agricultural and trade reform.

In a special briefing Open Europe looks at how the reality has not matched up to the rhetoric, and identifies what the British Government must now do to salvage the presidency before it ends in December.

Please read: Open Europe Briefing

The people versus the elites

While UK entry into the euro and EU Constitution have been blocked, the existing problems of the EU have not been solved, and pressure for deeper integration continues.

In an article in the New Criterion, Rodney leach examined the state of the European debate in Britain.

Making our case: Open Europe in the press

Blair's globalization summit offers only words, 26 October Bloomberg

"The agenda for the Hampton Court meeting has been watered down so much that it has just turned into a very general discussion of globalization,'' said Neil O'Brien, director of the London-based research institute Open Europe."

Open Europe launch, 20 October
Today Programme (audio)

Derek Scott argued that trade barriers were most costly for the poorest people in Britain, because worse off groups spend more of their income on food and clothing - the goods which the EU places the highest taxes on. He also argued that developing countries would benefit the most from freeing up trade.

European Reformers need to be bold, 19 October Financial Times

Open Europe Chairman Rodney Leach argued in an article in the FT that the EU must radically change, or it will fail. He argued that while the French and Dutch referendums have stopped the European Constitution, the drive towards deeper integration is continuing, and the existing problems of the EU have worsened.

Making our case: Open Europe in the press

London mocked for doing nothing at EU helm, 28 October EUObserver / AFP / Guardian

"Since taking over the helm on July 1, Britain has racked up just one high-profile achievement, brokering the start of negotiations to bring Turkey into the 25-nation bloc in the next decade. The point was made none too subtly by Open Europe, a pro-business think-tank that Thursday released "Achievements of the UK Presidency of the EU" - with all its 20 pages blank. "Tony Blair now has to act fast, or his time as president of the EU will be remembered as a failure," said Open Europe."

Surprising overlap between goals of EU supporters and critics, 28 October FT

Open Europe board member Nigel Smith argued: "Reform must be radical and urgent, but it will not come without support from enthusiasts and critics of the EU alike. I'm surprised that some people still appear to be fighting the last war. Real pro-Europeans should welcome ideas for radical reform."

Give protectionism the chop, 27 October Guardian Online

Open Europe Deputy Chairman Derek Scott wrote: "Threats from France to block the current world trade round have forced the EU to take a defensive line at the WTO, which in turn has left world trade talks teetering on the edge of collapse. But this protectionist stance is based on a false premise - we're not engaged in a race to the bottom. In reality the combination of global capital flows and free trade raises the wages of workers in poor countries rather than lowering the wages of workers in rich countries"

Open Europe to look at EU's future, 27 October The Spectator

"Open Europe's first salvo is aimed at the protective walls of Fortress Europe. How a centralised and regulated Europe could hope to compete in today's and tomorrow's world is the question that Open Europe will ask."

No discussion of rebate without CAP reform, 26 October The Guardian

In a letter Open Europe director Neil O'Brien argued: "The CAP currently transfers money away from the poorer eastern member states to some of the EU's richest members, including Ireland and France."

What it costs EU, 23 October
News of the World

"European trade barriers and farming subsidies are costing every household £1,500 a year, a shock report has claimed."