Juncker’s dream shows us Brexit was inevitable
How do we bring a divided nation together? The elders of our country have been grappling with this question for more than a year now. The answer appeared to come last week in the unlikely form of one Jean-Claude Juncker.
Few people ever said the European Union was a perfect model of government. During the EU referendum the Remain campaign ran on the assurance that it was capable of meaningful reform, of allowing nation states further autonomy to govern themselves. Any suggestion from the Leave campaign that the EU was in pursuit of an ever closer political union was rejected as scaremongering.
Yet with his State of the Union address last week, the President of the European Commission vindicated the very argument put forward by Leavers during the referendum – that the status quo was not an option on the ballot paper, that a tick in Remain’s box was in fact a vote for Euro-federalism.
“The euro is destined to be the common currency of the entire European Union,” Mr Juncker declared. “By 2025 we need a fully fledged European Defence Union,” he also said. Schengen, too, must be extended; more power transferred to Brussels from the nation states. How many Remainers actually voted for that outcome?
A survey by Demos and YouGov this time last year found only 5 per cent of respondents in Great Britain supported staying in the EU and trying to increase the EU’s powers. A mere 2 per cent supported the formation of a single European government.
As much as Mr Juncker’s vision of the EU fails to entice me, I don’t for a second doubt his sincerity. The emotive language he used to express his love for the European project was touching. “I have lived the European project my whole life,” he said. “I have fought for it through good times and bad times.” And this is just the thing: in order to achieve the degree of unity among the disparate group of countries which is essential for the federalist project to succeed, every single member country with its individual challenges and priorities needs to either share Mr Juncker’s commitment to this vision, and submit to it, or leave.
Much to the chagrin and bafflement of the Eurocrats, Britain has never shared that federalist dream. There’s a fundamental difference in our world views. The EU’s ambition to endlessly harmonise not only products and services (understandable to an extent in order to facilitate free trade) but also social policies, while disregarding its member states’ national identities, fails to impress large swathes of Britons.
If the French can give up the franc, the Germans the mark, why do the Brits make such a fuss over the pound? It is because we have always believed that it is perfectly possible to build a strong economic and strategic regional alliance without sacrificing our national identity.
With such vastly different visions, how much longer were we really going to last in Mr Juncker’s EU? Surely even the most committed Remainer must now see that it’s time we parted ways. As for Mr Juncker, wish him luck. I just hope that in his quest for further integration he doesn’t lose sight of the fact that nation states can only be pushed so far before they start asking the question: “Is this really worth it?” FOLLOW Dia Chakravarty on Twitter @DiaChakravarty;
at telegraph.co.uk/opinion