Welcoming Britain back
into the North Atlantic economic community would be a win-win for all involved.
In 1952, then-U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson said
that "Britain has lost an empire but has failed to find a role."
Sadly for Britain, it decided to renounce its longstanding global cultural,
legal and philosophical links to North America and instead looked for that role
in Europe. Despite its geographic proximity to Britain, the Continent is
nevertheless home to a host of cultures, legal systems and governing
philosophies very different from those of traditionally liberal Britain. The
consequences from that bad choice have bedeviled Britain for decades.
Now, as a result of Prime Minister David Cameron's stance
at the recent EU summit, Britain and Europe are at a crossroads. America could
help Britain make the right choice, to both countries' mutual benefit.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy helpfully summed up the
results of this month's summit. He told Le Monde that there are now two
Europes, one that "wants more solidarity between its members and
regulation, the other attached solely to the logic of the single market."
The Europe of regulation wants to press forward with deeper integration,
stringent budget rules and a transition away from nation-state democracy.
The problem is that no one asked the peoples of Europe
whether they wanted this. Nationalism is on the rise. Budget rules have been
flagrantly ignored in the past, and the Franco-German plan does nothing to deal
with the euro's structural problems, which make southern European countries
grossly uncompetitive.
It is obvious to most outsiders that the euro zone's
problems remain. The rating agencies have been unimpressed, and downgrades of
most euro-zone members and their banks are now more likely than ever. This
meant that Mr. Cameron was left with two choices: strike out for the shore or
drown with the rest.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Mr. Cameron's
decision is the way he made it. It is now clear that he made an attempt—as he
had promised British voters—to repatriate powers away from Brussels. This
attempt was rebuffed with some prejudice. Given the outright hostility to
Britain now evident in the European Union establishment, any further attempt at
repatriation will be a non-starter. The implications are considerable.
Enlarge Image
Bloomberg
British Prime Minister David Cameron, left, with U.S.
President Barack Obama.
The European Economic Community (EEC) for which the British
signed up in a 1975 referendum—a community of free trade and cooperation, not
supranational bureaucracy—is long gone. Worse, even today's less-palatable EU
will soon no longer be on offer. Sometime in the next few years at most,
Britain will likely face the choice between immersion in a powerful centralized
European mega-state and full exit.
Most probably, the choice will be made in an atmosphere of
crisis, with dramatic media coverage proclaiming impending doom for Europe.
Britain today needs to think seriously about a Plan B, so that it does not have
to take an option it will regret for lack of coherent alternatives.
Britain does have other choices. To find the country's new
role, British leaders should look to North America.
Alone among EEC members, Britain narrowed some of its major
trade networks when it joined. It also traded ordinary Britons' right to
virtually bureaucracy-free movement, temporary or permanent, between the U.K.
and British Commonwealth nations. This meant losing easy access to prosperous
places like Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which enjoy plentiful jobs and
high standards of living, for the largely theoretical right to take a job in
Düsseldorf or Lille. While much trust was lost between Britain and the rest of
the Commonwealth because of this move, strong personal, cultural and economic
ties remain and could be revived. Ask the average Briton where he'd feel more
at home, Paris or Toronto.
Canada and Australia have well-managed, vibrant economies.
Both countries sit on huge deposits of natural resources of ever-increasing
value. Britain's top-tier financial sector and still-excellent technical
capabilities already play a role in Canada's economy. These ties could be much
strengthened.
Britons also feel at home south of the Canadian border.
Contrary to an oft-repeated myth, links between Britain and the United States
are not reducible to the personal relationships between presidents and prime
ministers. The U.S. and the U.K. have always been each other's primary
financial partners. A few simple measures could substantially deepen this
relationship, especially once Britain no longer needs to adhere to EU rules.
Foremost among these would be to admit a post-EU Britain to
the North American Free Trade Agreement. Nafta is not a perfect vehicle, but it
has the enormous advantage of already existing, with a nearly 20-year track
record behind it. And unlike the EU, Nafta would not seek to impose a single
social vision on its members. For example, Nafta has had no effect on Canadian
social policy, which is very similar to Britain's—except for Canada having more
revenue to pay for it all.
The ongoing euro crisis will not be resolved any time soon,
and America will continue to be impacted by bank write-downs and declines in
U.S.-European trade. Increasing U.S.-U.K. trade would be one relatively quick
and effective way of taking up some of the slack.
Up to now, however, the U.S. has pursued a policy of
propping up the euro while discouraging British independence from Brussels.
This is incredibly short-sighted. Using the vehicles of the Federal Reserve and
the International Monetary Fund to try to fill the gaping hole in Europe's
finances will get everybody nowhere. Instead, British, American and Canadian
policy makers (along with their Nafta partners in Mexico) should be taking the
long view and preparing for a future in which the unsustainable euro zone
inevitably collapses. Welcoming Britain back into the North Atlantic economic
community would be a win-win for all involved.
—Mr. Murray is a vice president at the Competitive
Enterprise Institute in Washington. Mr. Bennett is author of "The
Anglosphere Challenge: Why the English-Speaking Nations Will Lead the Way in
the Twenty-First Century" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004).
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