Associate membership for Britain

Jacques Delors called for Britain to be given a 'privileged partnership' with the EU: participation in the single market, but not the common political structures. Now the Union of European Federalists have called for 'associate membership', again envisaged as a kind of amplified trade deal.

In both cases, the motive is uncomplicated: supporters of a United States of Europe know that they can't fulfil that objective while Britain has a veto. They therefore propose to give Britain a looser form of association, which would see that veto power disappear. In principle, the idea is an excellent one. You'd expect me to say that, of course: I've been proposing precisely such a trade-off for years. As always, though, it's the details that count. One part of the settlement is easy enough. Britain would lose its Commissioners and MEPs and would, in return, repatriate non-economic matters: foreign affairs, criminal justice, immigration, fisheries and so on. (...)

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Kiléphetnek az EU-ból a britek

A szigetország lakói 2015 után népszavazáson dönthetnek a tagságról.
A brit lakosság körében „minden eddiginél nagyobb a kiábrándultság" az EU-val szemben, ezért a brit kormány újra akarja tárgyalni viszonyrendszerét az unióval. A cél az, hogy Nagy-Britannia egy olyan Európai Unió tagja legyen, amelynek központi eleme az egységes piac, és amelyben az egyes tagállamok kormányai elsősorban saját nemzeti parlamentjeiknek tartoznak beszámolással – mondta David Cameron.
Ha erről az új viszonyrendszerről megszületik a megállapodás, azt a brit kormány népszavazásra terjeszti, „nagyon egyszerű" választási lehetőséggel: a választóknak arról kell majd dönteniük, hogy a kialkudott új viszonyrendszer feltételei alapján továbbra is az Európai Unióban kívánják-e látni Nagy-Britanniát, vagy inkább kiléptetnék az országot az EU-ból – tette hozzá a brit kormányfő.
A kormányfő szerint a népszavazást a 2015-ben kezdődő parlamenti ciklus első felében kell megtartani. Ez azt jelenti, hogy a referendumot legkésőbb 2017 végéig megtartják, ha a Liberális Demokratákkal koalícióban kormányzó Konzervatív Párt megnyeri a 2015-ben esedékes választásokat. A 2010 óta ellenzékben politizáló Munkáspárt ugyanis elveti az EU-tagságról szóló népszavazást.
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British PM Vows Referendum on EU

British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that if his party wins the next election, he plans to renegotiate the terms of Britain's membership in the European Union and then ask the British people to vote on it.

Mr. Cameron made the comments in a long-awaited speech Wednesday in which he warned that public disillusionment with the EU is "at an all-time high." He said a new relationship with the EU should be one "with a single market at its heart."

He said the British people would then be given "a very simple in-or-out vote" on whether to accept the new terms or leave the EU. "So the next Conservative manifesto in 2015 will ask for a mandate from the British people for a Conservative government to negotiate a new settlement with our European partners in the next parliament. It will be a relationship with the single market at its heart and when we have negotiated that new settlement we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice: to stay in the European Union on these new terms or to come out altogether."

The prime minister's announcement has displeased some of Britain's allies. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Wednesday that Germany wants Britain to remain an active and constructive part of the EU. But he added that London cannot pick and choose only the aspects of membership it likes. The United States has said in the past that it wants Britain to remain a "strong voice" within the EU. The next British election is expected in 2015.

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Mali training mission

EU foreign ministers have agreed to back a 15-month training mission for Mali's armed forces. At a crisis meeting on Thursday, ministers agreed to send out 500 non-combat troops and 200 soldiers to train Malian soldiers.
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EU Unemployment Surged To Record 26 Million In November

Record unemployment and fraying social welfare systems in southern Europe risk creating a new divide in the continent, the EU warned Tuesday, when figures showed joblessness across the 17 EU countries that use the euro hit a new high. 

Eurozone unemployment rose to 11.8 percent in November, the highest since the euro currency was founded in 1999, according to the statistical agency Eurostat. The rate was up from 11.7 percent in October and 10.6 percent a year earlier.In the wider 27-nation European Union, the world's largest economic bloc with 500 million people, unemployment broke the 26 million mark for the first time.

But the trend is not uniform. Unemployment is increasing mainly in those countries, mostly in southern Europe, where market concerns over excessive public debt have pushed governments to make the toughest savings, pushing the economies into recession.States have raised taxes and slashed spending – including by cutting wages and pensions, measures that hit the labor force in the pocket and reduce demand in the economy.

Laszlo Andor, the EU's Employment Commissioner, warned the uneven impact of the crisis could create a rift. "A new divide is emerging between countries that seem trapped in a downward spiral of falling output, fast rising unemployment and eroding disposable incomes and those that have so far shown good or at least some resilience," said a statement from Andor's office. Last year `'has been another very bad year for Europe in terms of unemployment and the deteriorating social situation," said Andor. `'It is unlikely that Europe will see much socio-economic improvement in 2013."

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