Daniel Hannan

David Cameron will secure all of his EU reforms — because they will alter nothing

I have no doubt that David Cameron will secure 100 per cent of his stated aims vis-à-vis the EU. The reason he is stating them in public is that the other members have already agreed to them in private. They have done so cheerfully, incredulous at how little is being asked. The other heads of government know, as the PM knows, that his four ‘reforms’ will alter nothing. Think about it.

1. Opting out of the words ‘ever closer union’

Just the words. Not the fact of ever closer union. The real way to opt out would be to end the automatic supremacy of EU over British law. As long as European Commissioners and judges, who loudly proclaim that deeper integration is their supreme goal, can over-ride UK statues, nothing will change.

2. A moratorium on benefits claims by EU nationals

Such a change can be enacted domestically. Indeed, it is already being enacted domestically. Britain is unusual within the EU in having a non-contributory tax credits regime that subsidises people in work. In order to remove that perk from new arrivals, the government is, in effect, removing it from everyone else, too. No new EU treaty necessary.

3. A ‘red card’ for national parliaments

This is actually worse than the status quo. What Eurosceptics always wanted – and what David Cameron was calling for until a year or so ago – was the restoration of parliamentary supremacy. In other words, EU treaties would have the same status as other international treaties, rather than creating a new legal order with precedence over national laws. EU directives and regulations would then come into effect only following an implementing decision by Parliament.

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