Lord Blackwell, CPS Board Member and Head of John Major’s Number 10 Policy Unit, writes on the future of Britain’s relationship with the EU.
To read the full article, visit the Financial Times website (£).
At last the real debate about Britain’s place in Europe is about to crystallise. From the day the UK joined the common market, the conflict between its desire to maintain a club of sovereign nation states and the clear objective of other European countries to forge “ever closer union” has never been resolved. The eurozone crisis has forced that divergence of interests into the open. David Cameron, the prime minister, should seize this moment to establish a new deal for Britain.
The euro project was always as much about advancing the cause of political integration as it was about economics. As is now clear, a single currency encompassing disparate economies can work only if it is managed within a common fiscal and political union, where the more prosperous areas agree to subsidise the weaker ones. That requires consent to a common federal structure, administered by a legitimate central authority.
To read the full article, visit the Financial Times website (£).
Date Added: Monday 7th January 2013