University of Surrey Issues in Politics Today The British Referendum on the European Union Constitutional Treaty April 2005

Contents  What is the Constitutional Treaty?  Why does it matter?  The British referendum: issues and problems  Questions and debate

The Constitutional Treaty  Designed to meet 3 challenges: Bring the EU closer to its citizens Reorganise what the EU does and how it does it Consolidate the EU’s position in the international system

How Did We Get The Text?  2001 – Laeken Declaration set out basic objectives  – Convention on the Future of the EU (made up of representatives of governments, parliaments and EU institutions) meets  – Intergovernmental Conference (government representatives only) considers Convention’s proposals  June 2004 – Constitutional Treaty signed in Rome

What’s in the Treaty?  A single document, so more transparent  Changes to the institutions  Changes in what the EU does

Institutional Changes  Permanent President of the EU  Permanent Foreign Minister  More meetings of government representatives to be open to public  European Parliament gains powers

Changes in Policy  Charter of Fundamental Rights included in Treaty, strengthening the Human Rights dimension  New Powers in Crisis Management and Space Exploration  Otherwise, much like before

Why Does It Matter?  First EU Treaty to be designed with new members from Central and Eastern Europe  First EU Treaty to be designed with so much input from the public (via the Convention)  Aims to create a more permanent footing for the EU

Why Does It Matter? (2)  Because many countries have decided to hold popular referendums on agreeing to the Treaty, there is an opportunity for people to consider their relationship to European integration

The British Referendum  Initially, the UK was only going to have a vote in Parliament  But pressure from political parties and the public made the government change its mind in April 2004  Vote likely to happen after General Election, probably in Spring 2006

Main Issues  Is the Treaty just a ‘tidying up exercise’ or a big step towards a ‘European superstate’?  Does it help or harm British people and the economy?

Main Issues (2)  Underlying question of “what role does the UK want to play in the European Union?”  Does a ‘No’ vote mean the UK has to leave the EU, or the EU will collapse, or a new agreement will be found?

Problems  Most people know very little about the EU  People will not vote on the content of the Treaty, but on other things: What they think of the government What they think of ‘Europe’ in general What they think of the economy

Problems (2)  Hard to get unbiased information from media, political parties or other sources  Many people are not very interested in finding out

Who’s in favour and who’s not? YES  Labour  Lib Dems  Big businesses  About 25% of public NO  Conservatives  UK Independence Party  Small business  About 50% of public

What will happen?  Many people are undecided  Many others will change their mind  “A week is a long time in politics” So still everything to play for