Students' opinions on the EU Referendum

Europe has accomplished a lot since World War II. Compared to most of the world, Europe has a wealthy social security structure, a sophisticated banking system, and democratically elected governments. But anti-establishment sentiments are rising and the EU is fast becoming the point of blame.

As someone who is about to graduate, the EU Referendum on the June 23 will make a huge impact on my life, whether Britain stays in the EU or not.

This blog post will include my own opinions on why I am against Brexit. I have also included a fellow student’s reasons for why they are for Brexit.

This picture was taken during our Politics and International Relations field trip to EU institution in Belgium. I wrote a blog post about the visit which was an unforgettable experience for me.

My case against Brexit

 

Eurosceptics in the United Kingdom argue that the EU offers little market access for a good deal of red tape; that bureaucracy supersedes efficiency gains brought about by access to the single market. But we must always keep in mind that the EU has no tariffs and quotas on internal trade. Common rules have reduced trade costs. In fact, contrary to Eurosceptic beliefs, the OECD shows the UK as the least regulated in terms of products and labour. The costliest regulations in the country are on land use planning which is a sovereign decision. The one country we export to the most may be the US but when you look at the bigger picture, countries within the EU has our biggest market for trade.

We sold £200.4bn of exports to Eurozone countries in 2014, which was 39% of all the goods and services it sold abroad that year! Even the US, India, China and many other states have said we must not expect special treatment if we leave.

This makes sense: why would China put Britain, with 64 million people, at the top of the trading queue against the EU which has a market of 500 million people? It is true that EU bureaucracy is not perfect, but the certain amount of red-tape exists to preserve the rule of law. Nobody said good rule-making is always fast. Sometimes incremental policy-making is the best and most equal way to reach a consensus.

Then there is the crucial difference between power and sovereignty. Eurosceptics often equate sovereignty with more power. The truth is, you can have all the sovereignty in the world but this does not necessarily make you a powerful nation in the international community. North Korea has all the sovereignty it wants, for example. Gaining leverage in an interdependent global economy requires sacrifices… or investments. Whichever way you look at it, it requires cooperation.

The EU is a visible symbol of such a cooperation in Europe. However, it has been argued that the EU is illegitimate because the unelected Commission makes all of the decisions. This is untrue. The EU Council comprises of our own elected heads of state, who ultimately define decision making.

I am not arguing for a federal Europe with the Commission as the sole decision-maker. It needs to keep its role as agenda-setter and the Council needs to keep its role as having the last say. What needs to change is that more power must be given to local governance. Another Europe is possible, but running away from the problem is not the solution.

The University's EU Symposium

The University's Politics and International Relations department (PAIR) recently organised an EU symposium of speakers. Two MEPs who have worked in Brussels for a while gave their opinions on the EU as a whole. This was massively useful for students studying the EU and for those interested in the topic.

 Here we are with Catherine Bearder MEP at the Symposium

This is a video of the other speaker of the evening, Richard Ashworth MEP. 

We met Richard during our Brussels field trip. [Courtesy of C2G2Soton]

Here is Catherine Bearder, MEP’s case.

The case for Brexit

 

My coursemate, Stephen, has kindly agreed to give me an account of his side of the argument for this blog. Here is what he has to say:

“The often unrepresented argument in the Brexit camp is one of democracy. We hear time and again arguments for and against the economic and trade aspects of the European Union; however, its effect on national democracy, as well as its own internal shortcomings is somewhat overlooked. What this type of arguments essentially comes down to is one of values. Effective democracy requires both representative and accountable inputs and outputs.

However, in the case of the European Union such assurances are absent. Laws are proposed and initiated by an unelected commission, and although the European Parliament has the power to propose amendments to such legislation, a similar mode of governance would meet legitimate opposition if implemented within the UK. The UK is also on the losing side of votes more times than any other EU government between 2009-2015. A mandate that is legitimised on the basis of consent is fundamental to the democratic process.

With regards to outputs, laws are extremely difficult to overturn at the European level and cannot be repealed through the democratic process. Is it right to assume that so long as legislation does not negatively affect us, that this process is worth perpetuating?

The ability to decide our future through the ballot box is invariably restricted through the European Union. With many countries making their way in the world, (the vast majority lacking the global standing that the UK possesses), we need to seriously ask ourselves whether the surrender of national sovereignty that is contingent to EU membership is worth the perceived economic benefits, or is our democracy held at ransom by the apparent benefit the EU provides?”

Meeting the Head of the Commission Representation in London, Jackie Minor, who gave a neutral talk about the EC Representation's engagement with the UK government and the potential Brexit models.

The University recently organised a debate on Europe with some prominent politicians and our very own students letting us know their views. Luckily for those who couldn’t attend, a recording of the debate is available - see the video above! [Courtesy of SUSUtv]

I’ve tried to keep this post as short and as straight to the point as I can, but there is so much information out there.

If there is one thing that I want this blog post to do today, it is to encourage you to take some time to inform yourself about the debate and to register to vote next month.

Whether you’re a student or not, what happens in the polling stations this June will affect your job, local community, university life in more ways than one.

Don’t let your say go to waste!

Rylyn

The EU Referendum: please stop comparing the UK to Norway

Earlier this month I did a blog post on why it’s important to vote and now as exams (believe it or not) are coming to an end soon, we are also approaching June.

I know the news is filled with information about the EU Referendum, and understandably it’s hard to keep up to date with everything. However, in June, after exams, hopefully most people are going to vote.

Having correct information is so crucial. I would like to elaborate a little on one particular argument.

Here is my personal opinion on the EU Referendum in relation to Norway, my home country.

As an international student here in Southampton, coming from a country which is not a part of the EU, it strikes me where all this “EU-hate” is coming from. One of the worst arguments I hear or read is that the UK should be like Norway when it comes to the EU.

Making such an argument only makes it clear to me that people only read mainstream media and don’t make an effort to understand how the EU works and lacks basic knowledge about Norway and the EU. Yes, Norway voted no twice in the referendum about joining the EU, but did join the EEA, which gives Norway access to the EU-market.

The EU-market is to this date Norway’s most important trade partner and it is impossible to imagine the Norwegian economy without access to this market. However, we pay somewhere between 70-90% of what an actual membership would have cost. Roughly 80% of Norwegian laws that are implemented come from the EU. Laws Norway has to accept without having any voice to yield its possible dissatisfaction. This includes respecting and following the basic four freedoms of the EU.
In other words, Norway too has open borders for EU-citizens which, from what I read online, seems to be a major issue for some Britons.

However, we are also dependent on foreign labour force to make our economy go around and we enjoy the benefits given to us through the EU; like Erasmus for example, which enables Norwegian students to come to the UK for a semester.

We travel, study, live and work abroad in the EU and we have EU-citizens coming to Norway doing the same – all of this without the need for a visa.

It’s a common misconception that the EU needs the UK more than the UK needs the EU. Stop blindly believing mainstream media – the media focuses on news that sells. I too believe the EU is in need of reform, but the best way to get reform is to be on the inside, not the outside.

Whilst on the topic of Norway, I just got back from my beautiful city, Oslo – last night, so I can’t not add a picture. This one is from the Opera house.

I recently had the pleasure of listening to Sir Mike Rake talking about the UK and the EU at his recent Distinguished Lecture. One of the many very interesting things he said was that we have to stop blaming the EU for everything that is wrong today, as most of the time it is not due to the EU.

As I also mentioned in my blogpost about voting, there have been several talks on campus about the referendum and I have yet to hear anyone say that the Norway-deal is better than what the UK has now.

Before you vote, I hope you have done some proper reading and research into the consequences of  Brexit and please, don’t say that the UK should be like Norway because it is not as glamorous as it seems.

Alexandra

Remember to vote!

What a weird headline coming from me, you might think – after all, I can’t vote in this country! True - but if you can, it’s important that you do, and I will tell you why!

As a part of a module I have been doing this semester, which has been aimed towards our dissertation and learning how to do your own research with everything from methods to ethics, we have been assigned to a group project. This is not just any group project, because we have basically been allowed to do research on whatever topic we like to see what doing our dissertation will be like. This is the PAIR2004 module, if any potential Social Science students out there are curious!

Anyway, my group have decided to do it on voting and why young people are less inclined to vote. It is shocking how much of a difference there is between the younger and older generations in voter turnout here in the UK and doing this research has highlighted it a lot more to me.

If there is anything I want to bring from this research it is that by not voting, you are not changing anything. We had respondents in our survey saying their vote doesn’t count, but if everyone thinks that way, then obviously no change will happen. That goes for almost all the main issues we were made aware of in the research; young people think their vote doesn’t count or that current polices aren’t even influencing them. I do agree to some extent that many current policies aren’t tailored to young people. However, why would politicians focus their policies on young people, when they know that it is the older generation that comes out to vote? It is not fair, but if you want change you need to engage and use your voting privilege.

I do call it a privilege, because we tend to forget how many millions of people don’t experience the same freedom we do being able to go and cast our vote.

So, without sounding too cliché, whenever there is an election of any sort, I encourage you to take an hour off from revision and essays and read a bit about the different parties you can vote for and/or read about the positive/negative sides. This is particularly relevant now with the EU Referendum, and staying in/going out from the EU.

The University and the different student societies have been doing a lot of talks and events about the EU Referendum and I know there are talks taking place both this week and next week.

One of the many perks with being a student is that you get first-hand information from experts in their field, so although these lectures tend to be after lecture hours, they are still very much worth going to!

It’s been very interesting doing this research, but I do hope that whoever reads this (no matter what age) won’t get discouraged by the statistics of people who don’t vote. Maybe in a couple of years it would be hard to find young people who didn’t vote in the last election!

I know the local elections and the EU referendum are both coming up here in the UK soon and would therefore encourage everyone who can to register and go and vote!

Alexandra