A liberal case for staying in the European Union...

The debate about Britain's future in the European Union got under way in earnest this week, with Mr Nick Clegg setting out the Liberal Democrat position. The core of Mr Clegg's argument revolves around economics, which will also likely be the heart of the ultimate debate on Europe.

However, there are important reasons to believe in a European Union beyond the financial benefits. A federation of the European Union's sort also offers protections of liberties that are beyond a singular nation's ability to offer.

As Mr Clegg is trying to build a pro-Europe coalition, he has kept his focus on the most politically relevant and visible reasons for the UK staying in Europe. That has meant putting front and centre the matters that will most affect jobs, growth and general economic well-being, issues on which he has the apparent support of British businesses (Macrory, 2013). Amongst these matters are certain factors that will have an impact on the country's financial health, namely, time consuming nation by nation trade negotiations and a diminished standing in international relations should Britain break with the EU (BBC, 2013).

Opponents, rather than challenging these points, instead tend to focus their efforts on different issues - sovereignty, the cost of EU institutions, and the 'repatriation' of labour laws to allow domestic businesses greater leeway with regards to how they treat their employees, from the minimum wage to dismissals.

But beyond the important benefits that Mr Clegg stressed - like the international diplomatic value of being part of something bigger than just one country - there are reasons to be positive about being part of a supra-national federation of nations:

• General protections and freedoms to prevent the exploitation that is allowed by competing national systems of labour law;
• General protections of political and civil freedoms, including courts of appeal against arbitrary or unjust treatment;
• Broad legal protections against big businesses dodging tax through federation-wide regulations;
• Freedom of movement, both in leisure and work, so as to give individuals the liberty to escape civil, political and corporate tyrannies;
  

 ...and these are but a small cross-section of the benefits offered by such a federation.

And where the promised benefits of this system are unable to find realisation, the solution is not to be found in dissolution but rather in reform and improvement. Dissolution would only be a backward step, likely only to lead to the re-emergence of old evils chained by a federal system.

We must give heed to calls from pro-Europeans such as Mr Clegg to trust in engaging positively with reform and improvement. As we do, we must also remain wary of attempts to unmake our protections and safety nets, efforts that only drag us backwards. Our hopes lie in engagement and co-operation, in breaking down borders, building up friendships and uniting our efforts across and between nations.

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References:
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+ BBC's 'EU exit would be economic suicide, warns Nick Clegg'; 8 October 2013.

+ Sam Macrory's 'Nick Clegg playing with fire on Europe'; from totalpolitics.com; 7 October 2013.