As you will have seen, the British Prime Minister made an important speech on the future of the EU in London on 23 January.
The PM’s speech reiterates his commitment to keeping the UK in the EU, at the heart of the Single Market, but also leading EU action on energy, climate change, development, foreign policy and other global challenges.
The speech also assesses the challenges that all of us in Europe face. Specifically, the challenges of the Eurozone crisis and the changes it is driving in Europe, Competitiveness in the face of a transformed global economy, and the gap between Europe and its peoples.
The PM proposes five principles for reform to overcome these challenges:
• Competitiveness: a serious effort to deepen the Single Market, cut red tape, open up trade and reform the EU’s institutions
• Flexibility: embracing the diversity of the EU, rather than insisting on one size fits all. He has offered some initial ideas on what that means. But we recognise that we are at the beginning of that debate, not the end.
• Power must be able to flow back to Member States, as EU leaders have previously promised: we should examine what the EU should do and should stop doing
• Democratic accountability: there has to be a bigger role for national parliaments
• Fairness: the changes brought by the Eurozone crisis must not undermine the integrity of the Single Market
These are far-reaching and complex issues for Britain and the EU. Britain wants to work these through with our EU partners. We want to work with Sweden and others to help shape the future of an open, flexible and adaptable European Union, to achieve not just a better deal for Britain, but a better deal for Europe too.
Dear Paul,
to be honest NOW I ´ve watched the remarkable speech of Prime Minister David Cameron of January 23rd, 2013 in London . Via an internet-media-forum. So sorry for be(e)ing late. Well, most importnat to me is his commitment to keeping Great Britain in the EU. But sorry- pls. to fairer ground-conditions for ALL side. In my opinion he was totally right by drawing and pushing attention to the current proplems of these “Eurozone” . Even if some nations just simply didn ´t want to hear the truth and left.(…and then : wishfull thinking insatead of a realistic policy ?) So let me just pick-up 3 interesting topics of his speech: # 1: “GLOBAL CHALLENGES”. There might be some few EU-Nations which are well prepared for this also called “Future Market”. It only looks to me that most of the other ones are not. They have serious problems in re. of their ” COMPETITIVENESS ” .The future decade could show this fact in the worsest scenario. So REFORMS are urgently needed. #2: “The gab between the people and Europe”. I ´m deeply convienced that we all need more “TRANSPARENCY”. Most of the people associated the EU with BRUSSELS and this overblown monster buerocracy there. I might be right or wrong. IT ´S THE IMAGE THAT COUNTS.#3.: “TRANSFORMED GLOBAL ECONOMY”. Sorry- but I also dont want to spend my money – via taxes- for the oldest, agricultural technology in France. Pardonnez – moi, Messieurs. And this leads us directly to the word which British PM D. Cameron has used: FAIRNESS.”Eurozones-Crisis must not…”.
This means to me again: Why no real reforms and changes ( as the British have suggested….)? These could lead sooner as some may think to this “Better Deal” (Your words…) For a better deal or a new one, improved contract could end to the benefits of all – Europe and United
Kingdom. BW, Ingo-Steven Wais, Stuttgart/Wuerttemberg