I had an interesting conversation with Loic the other day regarding the EU. Interesting because it got me thinking, will UK ever become truly European? Perhaps I am the least qualified person to write about European politics, but lately with the economic crisis, the bailing out of Greece and the voting in of a Euro-skeptic government which is ‘in bed with’ Europhiles, this question of European-Imperialism (if I could coin it this way) seems to be a hot topic. I myself nearly benefitted from the the European Union title on my passport as I applied for a job in Brussels in 2008. The easiness to just cross over the channel means that I could be eating Fondu in Paris in a couple of hours without the need of a stamp on my passport. However, I would still need to think about exchange rate. Since the UK never joined the Euro, we have our own fiscal policies, economic regulations etc, which allow the UK to be independent on its own decision when it comes to devaluing the currency to favour exports and growth.
So, my French buddy Loic was trying to persuade me that UK should join the Euro and become a strong player in European politics. Whilst all the continental Eruopean countries embraced this brotherhood, the UK stayed well clear of loosing its say on its own affair. The devolution of power to Brussels was just not appealing. If we were to have a referendum tomorrow on this issue, I think it might be very likely we get out of the EU altogether. Maybe I am too anti-European, but hey, I am Asian. Instead of trying to bring about a balanced view on the pros and cons of joining the Euro, I am just going to defend my case as to why we shouldn’t. From my previous posts you can tell the only reason why I am in the UK now is because of the British Empire. From the Indian subcontinent to Africa to the coastal cities of China, the British held a large part of the world. HSBC is a very good example of the geographical potency of the British Empire. Therefore, unlike its neighbouring countries, the strength of UK lies with its historical allys : the commonwealth. UK has always been strong economically, and if you look at major trading currencies, USD, EUR, GBP and JPY are the default choices. In other words, the European currency with the whole of Europe put together is considered on par with the British Pounds. Forgive me, my European friends who sees the benefit of this European imperialism, I just don’t think its right for the UK to spend its money on other European countries such as Romania, Poland etc because we are right next door. Perhaps its quite a selfish thing to say. I do enjoy the company of my Polish colleagues at work, and I think it might be harder for them to come here to work if it wasn’t so easy (although since they are skilled, it might not be so difficult).
I asked Loic, so would you prefer to be called a European rather than French, and Loic said ‘French’. Which is quite surprising to me since most French people are very proud of their French-ness, more so during this time of the World Cup. This leads me to another point I want to make, which is not purely economical, is the fact that even with this European brotherhood, the dutch still hates the German and the French still refuses to speak in anything but French. Yes, the single currency makes it easier for trade but when push comes to shove, if the Germans have to bail out the Greeks because they use the same currency, most Germans would complain that their hard earn tax money is not spent in Germany but in Greece. The have already bailed out East Germany once when the Berlin Wall came down, most of them feel that they are doing it all over again. I don’t know, I am not a big fan of centralisation of government because at the end it creates more buraucracy, and you loose your identity.
I can see I haven’t made much strong arguments in this post, but do let me know what you think if you care enough about the European unity.