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By the time you read this, the UK will have formally left the EU. There are no real words to describe the magnitude of this historic mistake and the range of feelings we are all going through. Sandra Khadhouri, Campaigner and Communicator and L4E Committee Member, searches for hope.

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It is difficult to find the right language to express our feelings as Britain leaves the European Union. We know it is a mistake; we are frustrated by the way the decision has been reached and we are genuinely concerned about its likely impact on our society and our prospects. 

But a decision has been reached, and few people wanted to extend the uncertainty and acrimony of the last few years.

The European Movement accepts the fact of the Government’s mandate but continues to believe that Britain’s interests are best served by engaging with our European neighbours to shape the continent on which we all live. 

We have not changed our mind, nor do we believe that – in a democracy – anyone has the right to ask us to do so. We shall watch events as the government pursues its policy and we shall hold them to account for its consequences. 

Brexit has shaped Boris Johnson’s Conservative party and it will be the Prime Minister and his government who are responsible for its consequences. 

Meanwhile we shall campaign in favour of principles which we believe are right:            

- EU Citizens living in the UK and UK citizens living in EU countries are entitled to expect that their lives are not disrupted by unnecessary bureaucratic processes;

- We are all entitled to expect that our government will:

•  Defend our economic interests in discussions with our trading partners in Europe and beyond; and
•  Support effective action to address the climate emergency. 

- British Europeans share values and interests with other Europeans, and we are entitled to expect that our government will defend and promote those values and interests in a world in which they are under increasing pressure. 

With your help, the European Movement will be there to ensure that we retain close ties with our friends in Europe. Please help fund this vital work.

Kind Regards,

Stephen Dorrell,

Chair, European Movement UK

The European Movement is proudly led by the grassroots. Therefore, following the election, we surveyed our membership and activists about what our priorities should be going forward.

The results revealed three central themes:

• Ensuring that European values and standards are maintained
• Pursuing a close relationship with Europe 
• Highlighting the impact of Brexit and holding the government to account.  

The European Movement remains committed to building an organization for the future which is worthy of our 70 year history. We will be announcing our next steps in greater detail at the Grassroots for Europe Conference tomorrow and following through over the weeks ahead. 

Our central objective is and always has been to promote a close relationship with our European partners. We recognize, of course, that the Government has a mandate to implement Brexit, but we continue to believe the policy to be a profound national mistake. Therefore, we will exercise our democratic right to campaign, at both national and local levels, for the UK to retain strong ties with the European Union and its member states. 

In keeping with the results of the survey, we will fight for as close a relationship with the EU as possible and to ensure that European values are upheld in law. We will show why we believe that a policy of alignment of rights and standards with the rest of Europe would offer better economic and social prospects to the British people. 

We will, for example, support full British participation in European programmes which:

- Address the global climate emergency;

- Support economic and social development in low income countries;

- Promote exchanges between European universities;

Brexit is clearly now going to happen, but the European Movement will seek to expose its consequences – and hold to account those responsible. 

Please join us as we take this next step. 

Kind Regards, 

Stephen Dorrell

Chair, European Movement UK

As I was in Brussels for business, I was able to pop in to the European Movement International’s (EMI) meeting with Carnegie Europe in the European Parliament last Wednesday. The triggers for the meeting were two-fold: Carnegie has just published its Report on “Six ideas for rejuvenating European democracy” whilst the European Commission that day had formally adopted its Communication on the Conference on the Future of Europe. EMI’s President – Eva Maydell MEP – hosted the event and Commission Vice-President Dubravka Šuica introduced the Commission’s paper.

She was at pains to say that there must be no “pre-judging” of the outcome of such a consultation exercise. The history of these “conferences” is that they acquire a life of their own and massive change can emerge. Could this make the EU become an attraction to British voters again in the fullness of time?

The topic was irresistible after Dave Rowen had introduced his recent survey of Branch Chairs to the National Council two weeks ago.  They put the top priority – by far – for EM (UK) as “promoting the EU, its values and its benefits”, along with “democracy” as a major wish. So it was a great privilege to listen to an author of this new project in the Parliament buildings where the project was launched only in October 2019. The plan is for a formal launch of the Conference on Europe Day – 9^thMay – with completion in 2022 so that the output can be in force and operational for the European Parliament elections in 2024. A demanding timetable if history is any guide!

Are our supporters fully aware of this project? Doubtful. A quick Google search only produced coverage in the FT and Guardian – highlighting the risk that UK media will now cut coverage of the EU down to the bare essentials of the negotiations. I can recommend the free content from Euractiv– and their coverage of the Commission’s launch. We will need access to this calibre of factual journalism as the UK press cuts the news flow from the EU.

The Communication described the Conference as “As a major pan-European democratic exercise, the Conference will be a new public forum for an open, inclusive, transparent and structured debate with citizens around a number of key priorities and challenges.” The scale of the ambition is also clear from the European Parliament’s recent resolution:

 -  European values, fundamental rights and freedoms,

-  Democratic and institutional aspects of the EU,

-  Environmental challenges and the climate crisis,

-  Social justice and equality,

-  Economic and employment issues including taxation,

-  Digital transformation,

-  Security and the role of the EU in the world

Carnegie’s six ideas also illustrate the breadth of the ambition for this project:

• Craft a compelling democratic narrative against the rise in illiberal values.
• Establish a more democratic way to elect European leaders.
• Foster a more transnational form of European party politics.
• Improve direct citizen consultations and democratic participation.
• Embrace a more positive approach to digital democracy that not only manages the risks of new technologies but also harnesses their potential.
• Strengthen public participation through a revamped European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI).

Graham Bishop is the Chairman of The European Movement National Council.

The Dubs amendment, submitted by Lord Alf Dubs (a Labour peer who fled the Nazis as a child on the Kindertransport scheme), would allow unaccompanied asylum-seeking children to come and live in the UK.

Boris Johnson stripped the amendment from the EU Withdrawal Bill in December in a callous attempt to use the rights of unaccompanied child refugees as bargaining chips in the Government’s negotiations with the European Union.

However, today the Lords voted to restore the Dubs amendment, and the issue will return to the Commons tomorrow.

The European Movement is proud to join Safe Passage UK in calling on MPs to restore the Dubs amendment and protect child refugees post-Brexit.

Write to your MP and tell them that the rights of child refugees should not be on the negotiating table.

In Greek mythology, the King of the Gods, Zeus, fell in love with a Phoenician princess called Europa. He presented himself in the form of a bull, and whisked her away on his back, as shown in pictures from antiquity.

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At the moment, we probably feel a bit helpless, and don’t really know what to do next.  So George Stevenson wants to offer a more optimistic approach, and some suggestions for how we might move to a new phase of campaigning and organisation.

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