Future of Europe

It was interesting to listen to Lord Mandelson’s lecture “Europe, is it the end of the project?” at Mansfield College on May 4. He strongly argued the case for the EU and made a number of important points about the future of Europe.

Mandelson was clearly concerned about Britain staying out of core groupings in the EU. In his speech Mandelson referred to some recent polling undertaken by Populus for the think tank, Policy Network. In that poll two-thirds (67 %) of the British people support staying in the European Union.

As regards views on a referendum, 56 % are favouring one and 44 % regard it as a distraction at this time. Mandelson argued that one of the biggest crises facing the EU was political legitimacy and wanted a much clearer public debate on why further integration should take place and not just how.

I am sure that this lecture will be referred to when we meet in Stockholm tomorrow on Europe day to discuss the future of Europe.

Read Peter Mandelson’s speech here.