The EU is doing more - lots more
How the European Union is saving Europe's nation states - again
My column in the Financial Times (paywall)
The British way of looking at the EU is through the prism of its squabbles. The Franco-German motor has stalled. New Europe in the east wants Old Europe to take a tougher line against Russia’s Vladimir Putin. A dispute is brewing about fiscal targets in the eurozone. All true in so far as it goes. Only, the naysayers are missing the forest for the trees
………………..The little Englanders, it turns out, were right about one thing. The EU has changed profoundly during the past seven years. The forces, however, have been centripetal rather than centrifugal. Far from breaking up, the EU is doing more. Lots more ……...
https://www.ft.com/content/f0866993-c91e-4c66-bfe3-0d4cb5dd8c7f
Excellent and very interesting, thank you
Philip, I read your article in the FT. Your comments on European defence and security and the EU becoming a pillar in NATO reveal a major risk for the U.K. For the first time since the formation of the alliance the USA will allow and indeed positively encourage the development of defence capabilities in other areas of NATO. The U.K. would have been well placed to lead that effort had it not left the EU. We are now in a position that European collaboration on defence is almost inevitable and the U.K. could join however the politics in Westminster will not allow it. Remember when defence and security was supposed to be the trump card in the negotiations? There is a real risk to U.K. defence and security, as we lose influence within NATO.