by Kate Holman in Strasbourg
GORDON BROWN’S increasingly cosy relationship with the European Union earned both praise and scepticism in the European Parliament on Tuesday when the Prime Minister briefed MEPs on preparations for the G20 summit in London and called for united action to restore global economic health.
He encompassed all the big issues facing Europe and the world: the economic crisis, climate change and energy supply, global poverty and the threat of international terrorism. But the chamber in Strasbourg was relatively empty, with around half the MEPs in their seats; and his speech earned polite rather than enthusiastic applause.
Mr Brown was lavish in his praise for the EU’s achievements, describing European unity as “a beacon of hope for the whole world”. To jeers from the small group of UK Independence Party MEPs, he said he was proud that Britain was “not in Europe’s slipstream, but in its mainstream”.
The Prime Minister spoke strongly in favour of tougher regulation of European and global markets, calling on the EU to take a lead in setting and enforcing new international standards for a system that has become “distorted”.
He said: “It’s not enough to promote self-regulation and allow a race to the bottom. The market is there to serve us. We are not there to serve the market.” He foresaw “the beginning of the end” for off-shore tax havens, and dismissed protectionism as “the politics of defeatism, of retreat and of fear”.
Mr Brown called for reform of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank which he said were founded in the 1940s to deal with the problems of the 1940s but now faced a totally different global economy. Acting together, he declared, Europe could “deliver the biggest fiscal stimulus the world has ever seen” and he called for “an unstoppable, progressive partnership” with President Barack Obama and America. “Standing apart is a recipe for failure,” he concluded. “It’s important that the world comes together to deal with this crisis.”
Socialist group leader Martin Schultz greeted the speech as “courageous” and “agenda-setting” but the Greens claimed the Labour government was “on the wrong side” on most social policies. Predictably, the Prime Minister’s ill-fated promise to create “British jobs for British workers” came back to haunt him with centre-right leader Joseph Daul comparing it to “picking a scab on the wound of dangerous nationalism”.
Commentators saw the speech as Mr Brown’s most positive statement on Europe, but doubted he would take a similar stand in front of a domestic audience.
European Trade Union Confederation general secretary John Monks said it showed “a welcome interest in the EU” adding: “I think he understands that in this crisis he needs the help of his neighbours to win support in other parts of the world.”
About The Author
