SP International :: Goals

A better Europe starts now

Chapter 3

A slimmed-down Europe

The last twenty years have been characterised by an ever more rapid transfer of powers from national authorities to Europe. Already, the majority of Dutch laws are based on European Directives. Sometimes these measures are sound, but in many other cases they are far from being so. European cooperation is totally necessary, but that is something completely different from a European Union which prescribes laws for the member states and lays down rules which go against the wishes of the majority of their citizens. The present process of 'broadening and deepening' of European cooperation is much too inclusive and should be reversed in order to avoid unfortunate consequences.

---

PROPOSALS FOR A SLIMMED DOWN EUROPE

Demarcate competences and return them to national institutions

Matters such as education, health care, social policy, public transport and social housing are primarily national affairs. Existing EU competences relating to these areas should be returned to the member states. To prevent these powers going back into Brussels' hands by the back door, which often occurs by dint of the internal market, member states should be able to set internal market rules aside.

Competence test

Proposals for EU legislation should be subjected to a more thorough examination than has been the case to date to see whether they come under the competences bestowed on the Union. Only if they pass such a test should the EU be allowed to take initiatives. In other cases national sovereignty must be respected.

Subsidiarity test

The guiding rule should be that matters which can be regulated at national level should be organised by the member states themselves. National decision-making can in most cases be carried out more quickly and in a way better adapted to the individual member state's needs and circumstances.

Proportionality test

For every problem a solution must be sought which is proportionate: you do not use a sledge-hammer to crack a nut. As soon as it is determined that the EU does have competence in a particular policy area and that it is desirable for the Union to have a voice in addressing a problem in that area, it must also be determined whether the measures taken are indeed in proportion to this problem. If not, then the matter must be left to the member states. Framework directives should be preferred to detailed regulation. Fine tuning can always take place at member state level.

Develop a Europe based on core competences

European cooperation in the context of the EU should limit itself in future years to the improvement of the internal market, with protection of democratic and social rights as the precondition of any such improvement. In addition it should address the need for better regulation of cross-border issues such as the fight against terrorism, environmental and energy policies, and asylum policy. In these areas the European Union must be able to act decisively.

Improve and limit the scope of the internal market

The internal market for goods is a fact. This sometimes brings benefits, not only to corporations but to the consumer. The downside is that the increase in scale involved leads to much greater use of environmentally damaging transport and that the 'market' is used continually as an argument for interference in national political considerations in the policy areas of, for example, social housing, public health and public transport. This market necessitates coming to clear agreements regarding the safety and quality of products and the protection of consumers. As far as services are concerned, in the SP's opinion public services should be excluded from all European rules governing competition and freedom of access. Exactly which services are public, each member state must have the right to decide. For other services, in each case and at all times the 'host country principle' must operate. In other words, foreign service providers must in all circumstances abide by the rules and social norms prevailing in the country in which they are offering a service. In the event that there is any question of unjust discrimination against service providers from outside the country, the member states concerned should address the matter, negotiating sound agreements between themselves. In such matters harmonisation imposed from on high is neither necessary nor desirable.

European environmental protection

Environmental questions such as climate change, air pollution and biodiversity are cross-border issues in relation to which a European approach can bear fruit. Emission standards for road transport and European cooperation in the air transport sector can contribute to the achievement of the Kyoto Protocol commitments by the European Union as a whole. In addition, it is sensible to make agreements at the European level governing the processing and export of waste. It is nevertheless the case even in the environmental field that certain matters should be left in the hands of the member states. The decision not to move to rush forward with a revival of nuclear power is one example of this. Member states should not be prevented, moreover, from imposing more stringent environmental requirements than those emanating from the EU.

A better asylum policy

Border controls between member states have to a large extent disappeared. In removing them, the European Union has created a common external frontier. The member states increasingly work together in the area of security and other cross-border problems such as terrorism, criminality, asylum and migration. Minimum conditions for asylum procedures and the relief of asylum seekers have now been agreed at EU level. There remain major differences in asylum policy between member states, which encourages 'asylum hopping' and other abuses. This leads, moreover, to a race to the bottom, in which member states attempt to be less attractive to asylum seekers than are their neighbours, putting the rights of refugees in danger. Within the European Union it has been proposed that a single European asylum policy should be arrived at, under which each member state would follow the same procedure for the admission of asylum seekers. This initiative is worth pursuing, but the results to date have been far from satisfactory. It is of the utmost importance that these asylum procedures are completely in keeping with the treaties concluded in relation to such matters. For political refugees who have reasonable grounds to fear persecution in their own countries there must always be a place in Europe. In order to maintain public support for the granting of asylum it is a good idea to agree on a division between the member states of people seeking such refuge, so that every country makes a proportional contribution.

European energy policy

Since the creation, during the 1970s - earlier than in other countries - of a strong environmentalist movement in the Netherlands, a great deal of attention has been given in our country to clean methods of generating electricity. The influence of the EU has now put an end to this. Electricity generation has found its way into the hands of multinationals. Cross-border electricity grids, once intended to make available a source of electricity from neighbouring countries, are now fully involved in international trade in electricity supply. Because of this, environmentally-friendly electricity generation is no longer favoured, but rather that which we can import as cheaply as possible. We are using electricity from brown coal and nuclear power, which we prefer not to produce on our own soil, while clean power stations stand idle. This renders the country's energy supply unnecessarily dependent on the European mania for regulation. This interference works to the advantage of nuclear energy, which, though it produces fewer greenhouse gases, instead creates a waste disposal problem with no solution. The European policy also opens the door to biofuels which we to a very great extent must import and whose production will be at the expense of tropical rain forests and of food production in the Third World. In order to continue the positive policies of the eighties and nineties the Netherlands should take back control of its own energy supply.

Combatting international terrorism

Cooperation between the police, legal systems and intelligence services of different countries should be facilitated to enable them to work together and exchange data and conduct more effectively the fight against international criminality and terrorism. In addition, far more attention should be paid to the seedbeds of terrorism: poverty, exclusion, oppression.

Towards a more 'social' Europe

The member states retain responsibility for social policy. The European Union's responsibility is to refrain from making the realisation of social policy impossible. The SP would define a 'social Europe' as, in the first place, a Europe in which member states do not compete with each other on the level of working conditions or public and social provision, and in the second place a Europe devoted to the maintenance and extension of social achievements instead of to undermining them. Large-scale harmonisation of social legislation is not desirable, if only because of the enormous differences in living standards among the member states. Poorer member states should, however, be actively helped to raise their social standards

Fewer, more effective rules

European laws and regulations, which currently run to some 97,000 pages, must be simplified and reduced. Measures taken at European level should preferably be provided with a statement specifying their scope and a date on which their effects will be evaluated, so that after a certain number of years the question can be looked into as to whether the measure concerned has had the desired results or if it would be better if it were allowed to lapse.

No centralised European foreign policy

The most positive input into foreign policy has not generally come from the EU, but from the separate member states. Some European countries lead the way in development aid, peace mediation, and support for subordinated and oppressed groups. The EU is, in contrast, cumbersome, slow and concerned above all with obtaining advantages for important European corporations and the widening of its own influence as a world power. Since the beginning of the war in Iraq in 2003 it has become evident that a number of EU member states invariably and more-or-less automatically follow America's lead. This means that in all probability the only common foreign policy which Europe is likely to agree on would be one which was virtually identical to that of the US. The obligation to institute a common foreign policy, as provided for in the European Constitution, could only have delivered a transatlantic foreign policy. The right of EU member states to conduct a better foreign policy than would be possible in such a framework can best be ensured by preserving and strengthening freedom of choice for the European states. The absence of a constitutional obligation to act in unity does not in any sense stand in the way of coordination of humanitarian aid or other useful initiatives.

A European Minister of Foreign Affairs is accordingly not advisable; nor is the formation of an EU army. In addition, the existing intervention force should have no power to act outside of our continent or to take 'preventive' action. Under the pretext of Europe's security huge quantities of taxpayers' money are being invested in the modernisation and enlargement of the European arms industry, which has, because of this, been able through amongst other things the export of weapons, to strengthen its position internationally. The European Defence Agency should therefore be closed and European regulations governing the arms trade made more exacting. Not market regulations but human rights should be the major consideration when it comes to developing criteria for trade in weaponry.

[ Summary - The debate on Europe is on its way! - European cooperation – a good idea - A more democratic Europe - A slimmed-down Europe - The size of the European Union - A fruitful agricultural policy - An affordable European Union ]