1. The EU must exempt Britain from the commitment to ‘ever closer union’
Other mechanisms for forcing ever closer union, such as the ‘ratchet clauses’, must also be discarded.
In order to be effective, renegotiation has to deal with both the symbolic aspects of ‘ever closer union’ and remove the tools that are used by the EU to realise this aim.
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2. The EU must introduce mechanisms to reduce the burden of regulation on businesses
Substantial safeguards are needed that would protect businesses that do not export to the EU.
One possible mechanism could be a ‘one in one out’ rule. The UK should push for a substantial decrease in the legislative burdens that currently define the CAP and CFP as well.
3. Control over social and employment laws must be returned to the member states
The EU increased its remit beyond the narrow needs of a purely common market into “the social dimension of Europe” many years ago. Any satisfactory renegotiation would have to see the UK, once again, exempt from the Social Chapter, and the UK Parliament free to adapt social and employments laws to meet social needs.
4. Damaging EU financial laws must be reversed
EU laws have become extremely expensive and damaging for the UK’s financial sector.
There is a strong argument for the UK to have a veto over new EU financial laws (in the same way that France has a veto over any changes to the CAP, allowing it to protect its priority industry: agriculture).
5. There must be a permanent mechanism for protecting the non-Eurozone states
Current rules mean some decisions are subject to a “double-majority lock”, which means a vote among Eurozone members, and then a vote among non-Euro countries.
But if the number of non-Euro states falls below four – as is quite likely – the double-lock rules lapse, raising raises the dire prospect of the Eurozone forcing the non-Eurozone states to adopt laws that they disagree with. The double-lock must be made permanent.
6. The EU must show that it is capable of securing comprehensive free trade deals
The EU has a very poor record at securing trade deals with other countries.
Comprehensive trade deals with the US, India and China should be secured or, at the very least, be clearly en route to be secured by the time the renegotiation is over.
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7. There must be a permanent, lasting reduction in the EU Budget
Between 2003 and 2013 the UK’s net contributions to the EU increased from £3bn to £11bn.
For any renegotiation to be deemed satisfactory, there would have to be substantial changes to the EU Budget: a clear ongoing commitment to a real terms fall in the UK contribution, back towards 2003 levels.
In addition, the Rebate changes that were secured by Tony Blair in 2005, which have resulted in a £10.4bn drop in the value of the UK’s Rebate, must be reversed.