terça-feira, 23 de fevereiro de 2016

Brussels promises to sit out Brexit debate


Brussels promises to sit out Brexit debate

The EU executive doesn’t want to be seen to interfere in domestic UK politics — which could backfire anyway.

By MAÏA DE LA BAUME 2/22/16, 3:57 PM CET

The European Commission will not take part in David Cameron’s campaign to keep Britain in the EU and will make no effort to influence the British public ahead of the June referendum on membership of the bloc, a Commission spokesman said Monday.

The prime minister has set June 23 as the date for the In/Out referendum, after securing promises last week that the EU would make several reforms aimed at making it more palatable to British voters.

Keenly aware that “Brussels” is often a punching bag for the British press, the Commission had been keeping a low profile on the whole question of Brexit, knowing that being too vocal in support of EU policies would be counterproductive with the U.K. electorate. But Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas made it clear Monday there would be no involvement whatsoever.

“The Commission will not campaign in the U.K. and will not be part of the campaign,” said Schinas. “Our role ends here.”

At last week’s EU summit, the Commission helped broker an agreement among the 28 EU countries on new terms for Britain’s membership in the bloc. Supporters of both the In and Out camps have wasted no time in kicking their campaigns into high gear, while Cameron’s own Tory party is sharply divided on the issue.

We do not speculate on anything that may or may not happen after the 23rd of June.

The Commission, as official guardian of the EU treaties, is tasked with proposing legislation and promoting European values across the bloc. But Schinas said this would not include active campaigning in Britain on the Brexit question.

“We will not close down our representation in the United Kingdom,” he told reporters in a briefing. “We have a role in the treaties as proponents of legislation. All of this will continue. But this is not being part of the campaign.”

An EU official said the decision was made to sit out the campaign leading up to the vote because the Commission didn’t want to interfere in the U.K.’s domestic policies.

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has been a strong supporter of Britain remaining in the bloc, but according to Schinas he will not do any public campaigning on the issue in Britain.

No plan B

Schinas also said the U.K.’s member of the Commission, Jonathan Hill, was free to have his own personal opinion on the matter but would not campaign as part of his official duties.

A Commission task force set up last year on the U.K. renegotiation, headed by senior official Jonathan Faull, will remain in place and will be involved in dealing with technical matters related to the implementation of the reforms, Schinas said.

He insisted that the Commission was not currently making any contingency plans for how to handle a victory by the Out camp on June 23 — a result that would create political chaos by launching either a frantic effort to renegotiate the terms again, or a complex and lengthy withdrawal of Britain from the EU.

The European Commission is generally not allowed to use its €250 million per year communications budget to influence domestic political decisions.

“We do not speculate on anything that may or may not happen after the 23rd of June,” Schinas said. “We have no plan B, we are not engaged in this intellectual exercise.”

That echoed comments made Sunday by Pierre Moscovici, the EU commissioner for economic and financial affairs, who told French TV program C Politique that any involvement of the Commission in the referendum campaign could backfire.

Moscovici also ruled out any “plan B” if the U.K. decides to leave the European Union.

“The day we start talking about a plan ‘B’ is the day we no longer believe in our plan ‘A,'” Moscovici said. “I have just one plan: The United Kingdom in a united Europe.”

The European Commission is generally not allowed to use its €250 million per year communications budget to influence domestic political decisions.

Last year, the Commission ruled out any campaign or communications effort to influence Greek voters before they voted in a referendum on whether Greece would accept or refuse bailout terms imposed on them by the EU.

At the European Parliament, neither the institution nor the political groups are entitled to finance any political campaign.


Hortense Goulard contributed to this article.

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