Member News
18th June 2012With the current crisis in the eurozone, should Britain be standing by its neighbours and weathering the storm, or starting to look for new opportunities in calmer waters?
This was the question posed at last week's parliamentary roundtable discussion on Britain and Europe.
As to whether the UK should focus its export efforts on the single market, or on emerging economies, the Head of the European Commission in the UK asserted that "it is not a binary choice".
Jonathan Scheele, the Commission's UK representative, maintained that greater trade and integration with the European Single Market would serve to strengthen UK businesses' growth prospects with the rest of the world.
"If you can establish your export market within Europe then that is a great springboard for the rest of the world", agreed Robert Walter MP, leader of the UK delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
However, criticising the way the UK presents itself in Europe, Lord Harrison, chairman of the Lords EU sub-committee on economic and financial affairs and international trade, said that a lack of language skills among UK nationals damaged businesses' true growth potential on the continent.
"We are impoverished in terms of language acquisition", Harrison said.
"Language is not a marginal issue" agreed the Lord Dykes, chair of the EU APPG.
Held in the CPA room, Houses of Parliament on Monday 18th June 2012
Attendees:
•Robert Walter MP (Leader, UK Delegation to Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe)
•Jonathan Scheele (Head of European Commission Representation in the UK)
•The Lord Dykes (Chair, EU APPG)
•Christopher Howarth (Senior Political Analyst, Open Europe)
•The Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Vice-Chair, EU Enlargement APPG)
•Ronald Stewart-Brown (Director of the Trade Policy Research Centre)
•The Lord Harrison (Chair, Lords EU Sub-committee on Economic and Financial Affairs and International Trade)