EUROPE:BRITAIN'S ROLE within the European Union is unlikely to change regardless of the make-up of the next British government, according to former EU commissioner Chris Patten.
Lord Patten, who was chairman of the Conservatives when the party last won an election in 1992, said a lack of enthusiasm across Europe for further integration reduced the scope for conflict.
“I suspect that the first argument . . . that a Conservative government would have in Europe would be exactly the same as the argument that a Labour or Lib-Lab or Plaid Cymru government would have with Europe . . . and that is over the extent of regulation of financial services, where there are fundamental British interests that arise whoever is in government,” he said.
“I’m not, I hope, being too schmaltzy about it but a year or two ago, when you spoke about a Conservative government and Europe and were reasonably positive about the outcome, people sort of gave the impression that you were whistling past the cemetery. I don’t think it’s like that now, I think it’s been fundamentally changed by events.”
Lord Patten was in Dublin last night to deliver the annual Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland leadership lecture and to receive an honorary fellowship from the college.
The former European commissioner for external relations praised the role of successive Irish foreign ministers in encouraging a more robust EU policy towards the Middle East. He suggested, however, that agreement between Britain, France and Germany was essential for any coherent and effective European foreign policy.
“We shouldn’t just be seen as the people who sign cheques when the Israeli Defence Forces bomb buildings in Gaza or on the West Bank,” he said.
“We should be much more explicit about trying to develop a Palestinian Authority. We should be much more outspoken about trying to prevent the disintegration of the Palestinian community. We should be prepared in the same way that we were in the North – talking to Sinn Féin and the IRA. We should be prepared, provided they obey a ceasefire and a number of other conditions, to involve Hamas. We have so many cards to play if we do it properly.”
