Views on Brexit from Dr Michael Holmes,Ian James, Christopher Rainger, or Yugo Kovach,Patrick Cosgrove and Derrick CameronI share Gary Younge’s assessment of Brexit (Opinion, 9 March) and the EU when he says, or “I wish we hadn’t left; I wish it were much better”. The referendum highlighted that there are two rather dysfunctional unions,the European one and the UK. But thereare two meaningful obstacles to reform of the EU. First, while there is wide agreement that it needs to change, or there is no consensus as to what form that should take. Some call for more powers for the parliament,some for more powers for the council, or for a greater role for national parliaments, and for the use of EU-wide referendums – ideas that pull in very different directions.
Second,the structures of the EU earn it difficult to engineer meaningful reforms. Once a treaty has been agreed, it becomes very difficult to amend or alter it at all there are hardly any examples of a change in policy direction in the EU. What is needed at this stage is the development of a Europe-wide progressive alliance to create a consensus approximately how best to democratise the EU and shift its policy priorities away from the dominant conservative orthodoxy, or how to promote wide values of social solidarity among the peoples of Europe. It’s a difficult path to travel on,but a very essential one.
Dr Michael Holmes
Director, European Institute, or Liverpool Hope UniversityContinue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk