Britain’s continental drift away from the European Union

Fueling the angst

Cameron’s Conservatives have sought to make an E.U. referendum an early centerpiece of the next general election, in 2015 — with an anti-Europe platform already proving to be worth its weight in gold here.

Gallery

European debt crisis: Anti-Bankia protesters rally outside bank’s general meeting: Spain nationalizes the Bankia group, European leaders reach deal to give much-needed relief for Spain and Italy as the 2 1/2-year-old debt crisis continues.

Gallery

Editor’s choice: Photos from around the world: A pictorial summary of life and events around the globe.

Cameron’s biggest surge in opinion polls came in December, for instance, after he refused to join a new E.U. pact giving Brussels more power over national budgets. His move forced other European nations in favor of the agreement — a bloc led by Germany — to forge their own separate pact, leaving Britain out.

Since then, a slew of E.U. laws and rulings has seemed to fuel more British angst. Earlier this year, many here seethed when the European Court of Human Rights blocked Britain’s attempt to deport Abu Qatada, a radical Muslim cleric deemed a national security risk. The court insisted that Britain first receive assurances from Qatada’s native Jordan that he would receive a fair trial.

British women, meanwhile, are up in arms over new European laws forcing insurance companies to end sex-based pricing, sending their premiums way up. At the same time, indignation is growing over a proposed 6.8 percent increase in the budget of the European Commission — the executive branch of the E.U. — even as Britain and other nations in the region undergo painful rounds of austerity.

With the unemployment rate here rising, Britons have increasingly blamed waves of immigrants from E.U. countries such as Poland and Spain, who, under regionwide treaties, have the same rights to work here as British citizens.

Conservatives such as Liam Fox, Cameron’s former defense minister and an influential lawmaker, argue that the benefits of E.U. membership have been grossly overstated. He cites Britain’s trade deficit with the rest of the bloc, which clocks in at $200 billion.

Yet Fox and others say a referendum should not be a simple yes or no to membership and instead should include a question on whether Britain should engage in renegotiations with Brussels to win back some powers.

The outlook of Conservatives marks an evolution for the party. Britain was ushered into the precursor of the modern E.U. — the European Economic Community — in 1973 by one of its own, then-Prime Minister Edward Heath. But Fox and others say the formerly narrow focus on economics and trade has gotten “out of hand,” with the E.U.’s authority over Britain’s legal system, labor laws and fishing rights, among other things, turning the union into something that early Conservatives who supported membership never quite envisioned.

If a referendum is held, it would mark the first on Europe since 1975, when Britons overwhelming voted in favor of continued membership to the EEC.

“What British people voted for in 1975 was access to a common market, not the dictates on health, labor, law, safety and business standards we see today,” Fox said. “This is not what Britain wants.”

Risks involved

Still, critics say bucking European integration is bad for Britain and for Europe. A British withdrawal from the E.U., or even a renegotiated “second class” membership, would rob the union of its third-largest economy and arguably its most influential military power.

But London also risks losing the stronger voice in world affairs it gains through Brussels. Pro-E.U. Britons cite the new E.U. free-trade agreement with South Korea, reached on favorable terms that Britain alone may never have been able to negotiate. In addition, Britain risks losing billions in direct foreign investment by European, U.S. and Asian companies that have seen this nation as a gateway to the E.U. — the world’s largest network of consumers, with a population of 500 million.

“There is a growing fear in the U.K. political class, especially Conservatives, that Europe is now something we never would have joined,” said Robin Niblett, director of Chatham House, a London-based think tank. “But what are the alternatives? America is pivoting toward Asia, politically and emotionally, and let’s face it, we’re not going to join [the North American Free Trade Agreement]. So if the U.K. moves away from Europe, it could find itself quite exposed.”

More world news coverage:

- In Syria, an oasis from the war

- North Korea strips military chief of all duties

-Top Palestinian medical school grads struggle to work in Jerusalem

- Read more headlines from around the world