THE President of the European Parliament has severely criticised what he calls the British government's lack of commitment to the EU. Dr Klaus Hansch warned in Cork yesterday that other member states would have to look at ways of moving forward without them.
He believed the Tory government's opposition to the EU did not represent the public view. The spring general election would show where the British electorate stood in relation to the EU, he said.
Government attempts to slow down or oppose the single currency and the Union's reform and enlargement was wearing the patience of other member states, Dr Hansch said during his delivery of the Robert Schuman lecture in University College, Cork.
Referring to the Social Charter negotiated in 1991, he said: "At the end of the day, Britain, the country which had done most to weaken the social chapter, opted out from it completely, and undermined the unity and coherence of Europe's social dimension.
"Let me state clearly, this trick will not work twice. I fail to see why 14 governments should always have to sacrifice their vision of Europe, and their principles, to keep on board - a government which may jump ship on any case. "If one government is clearly out of step with the 14 others on the main issues - making the Union more effective, more democratic, more transparent - then the others may have to look at ways of moving forward nonetheless or of postponing final decisions until the government in the minority is prepared to change its position, or until another takes its place," he said.
A differentiation must be made between the British government's stance on Europe and that of the British population, said Dr Hansch. "I have made a lot of visits to Britain in the last two years and, outside the London political class, I found a lot of support towards Europe in Scotland, Wales and England."