Election issues: Taking back powers


·       It is only the Conservatives that have a credible plan to reshape Britain’s relationship with the European Union, and to put this to the British people in an in-out referendum by the end of 2017.
·       Britain needs people in Brussels who will stand up for our national interest. We understand and share people’s concerns about the European Union. The EU is not working for Britain – it must change.

·       Our businesses value the single market but they find the degree of European interference excessive. People are worried that Britain is being sucked into a United States of Europe; that may be what some others want, but it is not for us.

·       They see decisions being taken far away, rather than by their elected representatives in Parliament. And they worry that European rules have allowed people to claim benefits without ever working here. As a result, democratic consent for Britain’s membership has worn wafer thin.

We are fighting to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU. Some areas for renegotiation that we have already set out are:

·       Keeping our border controls and cracking down on benefit tourism. We want to see free movement to take up work, not free benefits. We support the continued enlargement of the EU to new members but think that new mechanisms should be put in place to prevent vast migrations across the Continent.

·       Securing more trade but not an ‘ever closer union’. We want businesses liberated from red tape and benefiting from the strength of the EU’s own market – the biggest and wealthiest on the planet – to open up greater free trade with North America and Asia, but the concept of ‘ever closer union’, enshrined in the treaty, may appeal to some countries, but it is not right for Britain, and we must ensure we are no longer subject to it.

·      Taking back control of justice and home affairs. Our police forces and justice systems should be able to protect British citizens, unencumbered by unnecessary interference from the European institutions, including the ECHR.

·       Powers flowing away from Brussels, not always to it. Power must be able to flow back to member states, not just away from them. This was promised by European leaders a decade ago at a meeting in Laeken, but the promise has never really been fulfilled. We need to implement this principle properly.

·       National parliaments need to be able to work together to block unwanted European legislation. We need to ensure powers can flow back to national parliaments. We will look at ways to make this happen, including the possibility of giving national parliaments a ‘red card’. 

·       Conservatives will secure a better deal for British taxpayers. And then we will give the British people the final decision on Britain’s membership of the European Union at an in-out referendum by the end of 2017.

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