Why I am torn as to where to vote in the UK EU referendum

For a little while now I have been doing a lot of thinking about the EU referendum. The question essentially is “Should the UK remain a part of the EU?” and David Cameron must strike a deal to alter the British participation within Europe.

After this deal is reached, we will vote to decide whether we will stay in the European project with renegotiated terms or whether we should quit altogether.

I am essentially going to show that I am unsure as to place my vote and why. I will also suggest why this debate must be analysed from several angles before we can draw a general conclusion upon the issue.

Firstly, let me talk personally about why I am unsure. On the face of it it would seem that going to a foreign university (Maastricht University in the Netherlands) with the additional desire to study Europe and the European Union would make me in the pro-EU camp. However, it is much more complex. This is particularly due to my study of the history of European integration.

From my study, I have seen that the UK and the EU (and the EEC before it) haven’t really got on well together. In the beginning of European integration in the post-war period the European Coal and Steel Community was formed to essentially reconcile Franco-German relations. Whilst the reconciliation was to be the centre of integration the ECSC did in fact consist of 6 Western Continental European states. An invitation was extended to the UK but they rejected it, why? Simply put because the UK economic situation was perceived as better than the continent at this time.

So in the beginning these 6 countries joined together and the UK rejected membership. Fast forward to the 60's and the UK requests to join. The UK is rejected by a veto from Charles de Gaulle of France. Why? Mainly because he was sceptical of the ‘Special Relationship’ between the UK and USA and believed that the economic system and style of the UK did not fit with that which the 6 original countries had already long established.

Fast forward again to the 1970’s and the UK finally joins in. However, immediately after the Oil Crisis of 73' occurs and there is an economic recession. Consequently, Britain (a year or so after actually joining the EU) sets about renegotiating the terms of its membership as it believes it is paying too much in and not getting enough out.

Over the remaining period of time, until the present, Britain continues to essentially drag its heels in terms of European integration. Rejecting the monetary union in 92' and the Schengen agreement essentially exemplify this point.

Ultimately, the point I am trying to make here is that historically Britain and the EU do not work well together. Thus, I would make a case that Britain from this historical perspective should leave the EU. Why? Clearly, there has been a bad relationship between the two for a while, and the UK continues to hold up further integration something which the rest of the current members could potentially make real progress on without the UK preventing any further integration of the whole group.

I also do not personally see the UK citizens as willing to integrate and become European rather than British which ultimately has to be the end goal. I do not see the UK public making this change, where as I have more optimism about the rest of Europe.

So from a historical perspective then, the UK and EU should part ways. However, now I would like to show why I am torn, and this means coming to my second point of multiple perspectives.

I have just given you evidence from a historical perspective which provides one point of view. However, the referendum issue must also be analysed from the economic, cultural, political, legal and Nigel Farage’s migration point of view. We must also analyse the deal that David Cameron manages to reach and factor that into these perspectives.

Once we have viewed the issue from these multiple perspectives we can all make a much better an informed decision and essentially avoid making a regrettable one when the referendum occurs.

So to conclude, historically the UK and EU seem incompatible with one another and we should consider whether or not we are halting serious continental progress in European Integration. However, before we conclude solely on this historical perspective it is important to debate from a varying amount of perspectives before we draw our final decision on where to vote.

If you have personal views on this issue that you would like to share feel free to respond, or tweet me @ScottehHaskell

I am also new to medium so I apologise if the article looks weird I am still getting used to it, but I hope you enjoyed the read all the same and hopefully I will be able to write something else soon. :)