Blair’s success in Europe
How to halt the drive towards further integration? A question that haunts Eurosceptics everywhere. Blair has found the answer: be really crap at holding the presidency. Well done Blair, you’re an example for European governments everywhere.
Now some would say, given his goals of repatriating power to capitals and creating a more open europe, we should hope he would succeed.
Not so much. His goals - expressed in a speech to the European Parliament yesterday - turn out to include:
- common European energy policy including a pan-European electrical grid
- a European Research Council
- an EU programme for raising university standards
- a common immigration policy to attract foreign talent
- more co-ordination of tax policies
Why oh why couldn’t have brought number 4 up before the general election? He wants to harmonise university standards when Britain is the only country in Europe to have any universities in the top 20 in the world, and we have two. He wants to harmonise the energy grids, when French energy firms are given huge subsidies and protected from foreign takeover.
This is just another example of the Prime Minister wanting to “be at the centre of Europe”, and willing to give up on key national interests to do it. Keep on failing Blair.