In The Press
3 November - Letter in The Times
3 November 2011
Sir, As the eurozone moves towards a solution to the sovereign debt crisis, it looks increasingly likely that treaty change may be required. Some on the fringes in the UK see that as an opportunity for wholesale repatriation of social and employment powers from the European Union. Such a strategy would fail. Stability of the euro is essential to the UK and it would be immensely damaging to play politics with it. Blackmailing the eurozone over repatriation is not the answer.
We must continue to insist that decisions to fix the eurozone that may affect the single market should not be made by the 17 members of the euro alone. We cannot argue, on one hand, that the single market must be protected while the euro is saved, while on the other demanding that we get a better deal than everyone else.
We must not respond with an emotional backlash to this crisis. We need to retain our influence by building alliances with other liberal EU members such as Sweden and Poland to push for reform of the whole EU. This means not just protecting the single market from propositions such as the Financial Transactions Tax, but perfecting it, by opening up network industries such as energy, transport and the digital economy and regulating financial services without driving markets offshore.
David Cameron has rightly said that we are better off in the EU. We need to fight the important battles that will foster jobs and growth and make the EU competitive in the world. We will not achieve that by alienating potential allies with unrealistic and inconsistent demands for special treatment.
Roland Rudd (Business for New Europe)
Tim Clark (Good Governance Group)
Lord Jay Of Ewelme
Lord Kerr Of Kinlochard (Royal Dutch Shell)
Lord Marshall Of Knightsbridge (Nomura International)
Vijay Patel (Waymade Healthcare)
Nicolas Petrovic (Eurostar)
Sir Michael Rake (BT)
Malcolm Sweeting (Clifford Chance)
Bill Winters (Renshaw Bay)