News
Co-sponsorship IED-IPPR
‘The UK and Europe: Why do the Eurosceptics keep on winning?’
Date: 31st October 2011
Time: 14.00-15.30
Location: IPPR Offices, 14 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6DF
IPPR is holding a series of six high-level seminars to explore what the future holds for the European project, and Britain’s engagement in it, in light of the ongoing economic and political dislocations at the heart of the European Union. We would like to invite you to participate in the first seminar of the series, entitled ‘The UK and Europe: Why do the Eurosceptics keep on winning?’.
The UK has historically been known as the ‘awkward partner’ in Europe, with political leaders often disengaged from European debates and a persistent majority of public opinion sceptical of European integration. With the crisis in the Eurozone showing few signs of abating, British eurosceptics are rediscovering their voice and, with Treaty reform potentially on the agenda, they are sensing an opportunity to repatriate further powers from Brussels and fundamentally recast the UK’s relationship with the EU. Who are the eurosceptics, what are the different strands of euroscepticism in the UK, and why do they appear to appeal to large parts of the electorate?
This seminar will explore these questions in detail and ask how European politics can be better connected to the needs, concerns and values of UK citizens. Our speakers will explore how the case for a more positive and pro-active UK engagement in European affairs might be made – by politicians, the media, business and civil society - at a time when economic integration is being severely tested and the future of the European Project itself is in doubt. They will also consider the prospects for and implications of further British disengagement from EU affairs.
Confirmed speakers for this seminar include:
• Douglas Alexander MP, Shadow Foreign Secretary
• Douglas Carswell MP, Conservative Party
• Ben Page, Ipsos MORI
• Olaf Cramme, Policy Network
• David Rennie, the Economist (chair)
This event is being co-funded by the Institute of European Democrats.
‘Staving off collapse: where next for the Eurozone?’
Date: 14th December 2011
Time: 14.30-16.30
Location: IPPR Offices, 14 Buckingham Street, London WC2N 6DF
IPPR is holding a series of six high-level seminars to explore what the future holds for the European project, and Britain’s engagement in it, in light of the ongoing economic and political dislocations at the heart of the European Union. We would like to invite you to participate in the second seminar of the series, entitled ‘Staving off collapse: where next for the Eurozone?’.
Over the past few months the European sovereign debt crisis has reached dangerous new heights. Angela Merkel and Nicholas Sarkozy’s package – announced in Berlin in July - to rescue Greece and prevent contagion from spreading now feels a long time ago. Since then the situation has deteriorated markedly: Europe has experienced an aborted Greek referendum, political paralysis followed by regime change in Athens and Rome, and free-fall in the markets. Across the Eurozone, the Government bond market has seized up – with Germany unable to sell all of its stock in a recent auction and yields on Italian debt fast approaching the 8% mark. At the same time, inter-bank lending has frozen leading several commentators to suggest that we are in the midst of a second global credit crunch.
The odds on a break-up of the single currency have never been stronger. This seminar will ask why this chain of events has occurred and what policies and instruments are needed to prevent collapse and put the single currency back on a stable footing in the medium to long term.
Our speakers will appraise current policy options and ask whether others – such as common Eurobonds and/or the ECB buying sovereign bonds en masse - are desirable and now inevitable. They will also explore the prospects of closer macroeconomic and fiscal integration and ask what balance needs to be struck between fiscal tightening in indebted nations and measures to support growth and competitiveness – at a time when the European continent is potentially facing years of recession. Finally, it will explore the implications for the UK of a ‘two-speed Europe’ and what more the Government can do to influence the EMU policy agenda going forward.
Speakers for this seminar include:
• Jonathan Faull, Director General for Internal Market and Services, European Commission
• Emma Reynolds MP, Shadow Minister for Europe
• Paul Mason, Economics Editor, BBC Newsnight
• Roland Rudd, Chairman of Business for New Europe
This event is being co-funded by the Institute of European Democrats.
