European Dis-Union

Famously, an editorial in the Skibbereen Eagle warned the Czar of Russia that the paper had its eye on him. The idea that the Czar would even know the weekly existed is so fantastic that the warning is now much cited as an expression of both provincial self-regard and republican egalitarianism. A cat can look at a king. It is that spirit that I turn my beady eye towards Europe and the bould Tony Blair…

As I’m sure you know, this week Britain assumes the EU presidency for the next six months. This happens within weeks of the rejection of the proposed EU Constitution by the voters of France and the Netherlands and news that the Irish and others could well go the same way.
Blair went to war on the EU budget a couple of weeks ago, refusing to surrender Britain’s budget rebate and demanding that the Common Agricultural Policy be phased out in the interests of fair trade and, by extension, the poor farmers of the world, and especially Africa.
There is a general sense that Europe is in crisis. Many reasons are advanced for this. They include the expansion of the EU, the palpable threat to jobs and farm incomes from low-cost economies and the prospect of Turkey joining at some point in the future.
Some argue that the original idea has been stretched to a point where it can’t hold, that the EU worked fine with up to fifteen member states but that the inclusion of the Baltic and central European states renders its philosophies, processes and structures untenable.
It is also the case that concerns about immigration in France and The Netherlands influenced voters. But the biggest factor had nothing to do with Europe and everything to do with national politics. The French wanted to loaf Jacques Chirac and they did it the only way they could.
While much shite has been said and written on the whole thing, the Irish have been surprisingly complacent. We have done very well out of Europe and have a great deal to lose if it falters.
That ‘what-everrr’ expresses our present attitude does us little credit. I know it takes a bit of effort to think it through but we owe it to the Germans, French and Dutch who bankrolled the structural funds that were so important to the development of the Celtic Tiger and our present prosperity.
Europe also allowed the movement of labour that has been so crucial to us in the last five to ten years. Without the Latvians, Lithuanians, Czechs and Poles, our economy would have stalled several years ago. These immigrants – so close in so many ways to how we ourselves once were – have filled jobs that we don’t have the personnel to fill. And not just in the construction industry.
In these regards we are quite different to the British. So it’s shameful that a delegate from another European country was quoted in the Irish Times a little over a year ago saying that it was not necessary to ask what Dublin thought on European matters because the Irish simply followed the London line.
One hopes it isn’t so, but one feels it probably is. Or was. This derived from five sources. The first was a saggy love affair with Blair. The second was the need to keep him sweet for the sake of the peace process. The third was a belief in the need to champion a particular economic model. The fourth was the increasing dominance of both the English language and worldview in the EU. The fifth was our general adoption of British cultural norms.
There is, at least, some hope that with former Minister for Finance McCreevy gone from Finance, Cowan gone from Foreign Affairs and Fianna Fáil allegedly rediscovering its social conscience, there might be some change.
The presence of Dermot Ahern is likely to help. A Minister from a border constituency will be more independent of the UK line.
From 1971 to 1997 we Irish played a blinder in Europe, and not only on our own behalf. We provided the perfect pragmatic bridge between the loquacity and philosophy of, if you like, structuralism and structure.
It’s a pity that it’s Blair’s turn because he has a Messiah complex. He’s not always wrong, but he’s rarely as right as he believes. Persuasive as he might be, that’s the problem. In his own way, he’s as self-certain and self-regarding as the editor of the Skibbereen Eagle all those years ago.
This is a time for cool heads and pragmatists. Too much good has come from the EU for it to be allowed falter. The Irish need to revisit their old role in interpreting Europe for its contending factions.
But it’s also a time for robust debate. If we’re asked to rubber stamp another EU treaty, the probability is that we’ll refuse. We need to be involved in the discussion. We need to shape the future. That’s what democracy is all about, isn’t it?
Ask the Czar.