On the day EU leaders sign the Lisbon Treaty, TMP’s new european columnist, Anne Fairweather, reflects on our relationship as citizens with the European Union. 

As the leaders of Europe gather in Lisbon to sign another European Treaty, the debate as to what it all means is as unenlightening as always. The real challenge to all politicians that recognise that the EU is a necessary and useful institution, is how to communicate this to Europe’s citizens.

It is hardly surprising that most people have little idea about what the purpose of the EU is, let alone what it does. The debate has been stuck in a rut for decades. The European Union tends to be described by anti-Europeans as a plot to take over British sovereignty – a debate that fails to recognise that political power in Britain has become more and more defuse over the centuries. Whilst those that speak out in favour of the EU are characterised as leading Britain into a never-ending ‘ever closer union’. This then generates fear, as it is perceived to have no end other than that of a ‘super-state’, whatever that maybe. This is an equally curious concern as no one even thinks to ask what the purpose and direction of their own country is. In fact, the way in which the UK’s borders and political institutions have evolved over centuries ought to provide a template for understanding how the EU evolves.

A common understanding of the role, purpose and direction of the EU is desperately needed. Interestingly, the need to co-operate across nations is not questioned when one considers the challenges of the modern age, from climate change to terrorism, mass communication to world trade. It is therefore puzzling that the legitimacy of the institutions, which the EU encompasses, is constantly questioned. The EU is the most creative and organised response to the need to co-operate in the modern world. Rather than responding to policy challenges on an ad hoc basis, the EU allows for a more consistent and transparent approach.

In order to convey this role for the EU, European politics needs to be more consistently discussed in terms of co-operation between nations, rather than ‘them and us’ stand offs. Unfortunately the language used by most to discuss our relationship with the continent has not moved on from 1945. All too often the terminology of war is used with the UK ‘standing our ground’ against the latest ‘onslaught from Brussels’, which does little to enlighten the situation. The UK is hardly ‘surrendering to Brussels’ when Gordon Brown signs the new Treaty, as the UK has done so much to influence the text.

Changing the language that is used to describe often tricky negotiations is particularly challenging in UK where then language of adversarial politics is the norm. However the need to co-operate to reach an improved shared goal is something we all do everyday in our workplaces and homes. The pan-national political challenges of the modern age should also provide a route to explain the need for the EU. This task should also be becoming easier as Europe becomes more personal.

Every year more and more Britons travel to the continent and many more are studying and living abroad for several months to several years. Those that come to live and work in the UK are also adding to an increasing awareness of who our European neighbours are. It is an understanding of the people of Europe, rather than the Treaties of the EU, that first attracted me to understanding European politics. Perhaps the problem our current European leaders have of creating a better understanding of the purpose and need for the EU is that they did not spend their formative years partying with people from all countries of Europe!

Strength through co-operating with our neighbours to solve modern problems; the highly visible benefits that the EU has brought its citizens through free movement across the Union and a delight in the diversity of our traditions, which most now have some first hand experience of, has to be the basis of a new conversation about our relationship with the continent. Only once we have developed a common understanding of why we choose to co-operate with our neighbours in the EU can we then hold a coherent debate about our future relationship of the EU and the Lisbon Treaty.