Cameron to define UK’s European future on Friday

Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron is to give one of the most important speeches of his premiership on Friday when he lays out his country’s European course.  As part of his keynote communication, Cameron is due to demand looser relations with the continent and is also expected to announce details of a referendum on UK membership within the EU.

The control that Brussels has over the UK is a sensitive subject for many Brits and a poll in November showed that over half of the population want to exit the EU altogether.  56% of those questioned said they would choose to leave the EU if a referendum was held.

Voters of the ruling conservative party were most staunch in their resistance to the Union with 68% saying they would like to part company.

If the consensus showed that the United Kingdom wanted to leave the European Union, they would be legally allowed to do so under the Treaty on European Union.  Article 50 reads:  “Any Member State may decide to withdraw from the Union in accordance with its own constitutional requirements.”

Reasons for Distain

The main causes for this UK rebellion are diverse.

Immigration is one of the hot topics with over one million migrants settling in, what is already considered to be an overpopulated island, each year.  Public services are already stretched and affordable housing is seen to be in short supply.

Membership of the EU is already expensive and is soon to become even more costly as VAT contributions rise from 0.3% to 2%. Many people feel that the trade-off is unfair and substantial sums of money being squandered in Brussels.

EU law supersedes UK law which has caused discontent within the population for various reasons. Immigrant entitlement to benefits and the inability to deport criminals are concerns for many people.  Also, many of the laws applied to economies throughout the EU are seen to disadvantage the UK.

For the first time ever, exports to nations from outside the EU are higher than to those from within the bloc.  Asia and Latin America are seen have the highest prospects for helping the waning UK economy.  In addition to this, A UK-US trade pact could be on the cards which could turn out to be an Ace up David Cameron’s political sleeve.

Why the Netherlands?

Rather than speaking in his own backyard, why is Mr Cameron deciding to deliver the communication in Amsterdam?

Regarding the speech, a spokesperson from Downing Street told the IBTimes :  “”The Netherlands is a great place to do that – a great historic and commercial European country, one of the EU’s founding Member States, where there is a vigorous and open debate about how to achieve the kind of outward-looking , competitive EU we need.”

Many people would think that the safest place for him to do so would be in London but this would show Cameron as further distancing himself from Europe.

This might not be the best of ideas on the day when he will express his vision for a less intertwined economic bloc.

Rather than separating himself from it further that he is already expected to, David Cameron is hoping to appeal to Europe by speaking from Europe.  The Netherlands is also considered to be a strong ally of Britain’s and Amsterdam is as good-a-place as any for expressing his vision.

One thing is for sure.  The Prime Minister’s speech will have profound consequences for the whole of the European Union and could be a make or break for the honourable Mr Cameron.