David Cameron’s veto of the EU treaty to fix the Eurozone crisis may only really have stalled, rather than prevented, Europe’s fiscal union, but it has potentially opened the floodgates for the use of what was once an unmentionable force.
The power of veto, introduced by Charles de Gaulle in the 1950s, was used twice in ’63 and ’67 to prevent Britain’s involvement in the European Community. It wasn’t until de Gaulle’s departure into the wilderness in 1969 that Britain was accepted and after the ’72 Paris Summit the rules where changed to incorporate a ‘qualified majority voting’ system. This meant that the veto, whilst still in existence, became a more of a historical remnant of past generations than a legitimate action. Even Thatcher didn’t use it during the budget rebate fallout in the ’80s.
In reality the veto had caused nothing but problems. For example it allowed the Italians to constantly cancel plans to introduce quality controls on products for EU trading. The decision on the necessary requirements of lawnmowers, for example, took 12 years to become legislation (Italy knew that their own products would not reach the required standards, so sought to prevent the decision and constantly vetoed the plans). If it took 12 years to agree upon the most mundane of issues imagine the problems it caused with deep and controversial politics.
Now that Cameron has brought it out into the open we have already seen another veto at the UN, with Russia and China denying the world’s attempts to deal with Assad in Syria. It surely can’t be right that 2 nations (especially 2 such controversial ones with clear partisan interests) can be allowed to block the decisions of the free world! It would be awful if Cameron’s actions lead to a more consistent culture of blocking anything a nation doesn’t agree with!
As it happens I agreed that the ‘City Tax’ would have been unacceptable for Britain, but the treaty will go ahead anyway without us (although as Dave is constantly reminding is it is ”not an EU treaty”). That’s fine and as it should be. Our one nation should not be allowed to block fiscal policy for a currency we don’t even use. What is more worrying is that Pandora’s Box could have been opened and in future it may become almost impossible to build policy cooperation internationally. The UN example of Russia and China’s ability to prevent Western military action, despite clear human rights abuses, is an unnerving precedent.