The first public appearance of Britain's new minister for Europe, Glenys Kinnock, brought a welcome - if somewhat predictable - call to the British establishment to better engage with the European Union:
Rumyana Vakarelska is a special correspondent of the FT Group's newswires and analyst of EU politics"I have the duty, with the rest of the government, of working to increase the knowledge about, and the interest in the EU - and I do not regard that to be a partisan obligation, but a civic responsibility", said the former member of the European parliament (MEP).
Glenys Kinnock's emphasis on the importance of a debate about Europe in Britain is timely; as she pointed out, the European elections in the country had seen only a 35% turnout. The relative popular indifference, even at a time of domestic political scandal, is a worrying sign of alienation even from Britain's closest neighbours; far more alarming are the wider and long-term consequences: for (as Kinnock also pointed out) Britain cannot alone successfully face key global challenges such as climate change, national security and economic recovery - it needs to cooperate, to create solutions that work for "here" by also working "there".
In a twist worthy of Britain's zigzag relationship with the European Union, however, it may be that the longed-for debate about Europe may come through the rise to influence in the European arena of a viscerally xenophobic anti-European force: the British National Party. The BNP's surprise entry into the European parliament - it won two seats in the elections, benefiting from the low turnout and the proportional electoral system - should in fact serve as a warning that Europe deserves to be an issue of political discussion in its own right, and not merely a "punchball" between the various establishment parties. It cannot happen soon enough, to avoid yet another generation growing up in Britain that does not recognise Europe as an enriching though quite natural part of its multiple identity.
Also on the European parliament elections in openDemocracy:
Hugo Brady, "Europe's elections: why they matter" (2 June 2009)
Gisela Stuart, "Europe lost and found" (3 June 2009)
Anand Menon, "The European parliament: problem, and solution" (5 June 2009)If Glenys Kinnock is to make a difference in her new role, she will need far wider support in her party and across the political spectrum. The lesson of history is that as soon as British politicians return to London arrive from Brussels they become once more engulfed in domestic politics - and the promise of inspiring a "fresh debate" about Europe dissolve.
This is where the provocative edge represented by the BNP may make a difference to the intensity of political discourse about Europe. The party seems to carry trouble around with it - in the shape either of its own supporters or of the "anti-Nazi" demonstrators who pursue them everywhere. Will the achievement of an abrasive counter-establishment party be to make British politics pay attention to events in Strasbourg and Brussels?
Meanwhile, if Britain's Labour government could demonstrate a modicum of vision where the European Union is concerned, it would still not be too late for it - on the model of the bold approach it showed over the financial crisis - to adopt a more engaged approach at a crucial time. This would also be popular in most European states, fearful that a Conservative victory (in the general election that must be held by early June 2010) might entail the blocking of the Lisbon treaty - perhaps through holding a referendum in the expectation that the British people will vote "no".
Perhaps though the words of Germany's former foreign minister Joschka Fischer about the Britain's role in Europe offer a healthy caution: "The leadership of Europe remains about German-Franco relations. The United Kingdom is invited to take part at any time if it wants to, but for now we need to think how to improve the relationship between France and Germany".
Many British citizens may find this judgment congenial. But the realities of trade competition, security, climate change, and geopolitical tensions mean that - even if they wish to leave Europe alone, Europe - and the world - will not leave Britain long in splendid isolation.
