Britain, the EU and the ‘nature of the beast'
‘What is the nature of the beast?’ Is the EU purely an ‘economic’ beast, or is it driven by some deeper political values, such as human rights protection, broadly defined. In EU literature, scholars have often asked the question about the nature of the EU: what does it stand for? Is it merely a project driven by economic and free trade objectives? The current negotiations between Britain and the EU bring to the fore this ‘existential’ question again: will Brexit have merely economic consequences for Britain? What will the implications be for workers’ rights or antidiscrimination provision?
The EU was never exclusively about economic integration. It started off as an economic project, but the improvement of the lives of European workers has always underpinned it. Indeed, the realization of the freedom of movement of workers, capital, goods and services (the four pillars of the EU) has led to the development of EU legislation that ensured that the rights and well-being of European workers within the common market context are upheld. The EU developed an important body of law that provides the minimum rights that EU workers should enjoy such as health and safety at work, protection against discrimination (based on sex, race, religion, age, disability and sexual orientation), equal opportunities for men and women or labour law (eg working hours, employment of young people). Most of us, as EU citizens, take this EU legislation – that protects our rights in the labour market and at the national level – for granted. However, if Britain left the Union, then this EU legislation would no longer apply to European and British workers in the UK.
The EU anti-discrimination legislation – mainly the Racial Equality Directive (2000/43/EC) and the Employment Equality Directive (2000/78/EC) – are particularly important for ensuring that European citizens are not discriminated against in employment and occupation on grounds of disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, and age (Directive 2000/78/EC) and that they are protected against discrimination on racial or ethnic grounds in employment and training, education, social protection (including social security and healthcare), membership and involvement in organisations of workers and employers and access to goods and services, including housing (Directive 2000/43/EC). These cornerstones of human rights protection against discrimination are particularly vital if groups – such as ethnic minorities, LGBT people, the disabled, the Roma children, to name just a few – are to be treated equally within the context of the common market, employment, or public services. These EU Directives have been transposed into national legislation that achieves, at the national level, the objectives of ensuring equal treatment and protection against discrimination. Countries that wish to join the EU have to transpose this EU law into their national legislation too. If Britain was to leave the Union, then the EU anti-discrimination law would no longer be applicable within a British context.
In a nutshell, the EU stands for more than just economic integration and free trade. It is also about a set of political norms, such as protection against discrimination and of workers’ rights, which underpin and support the functioning of the common market, i.e. the economic project. Indeed, the ‘nature of the beast’ includes some fundamental human rights values, which so far, we have taken for granted. Thus, the ‘beast’ is both economic and political in nature, and hence, there are going to be profound consequences for Britain if it decides to leave the Union.
Dr Ingi Iusmen
University of Southampton
Dr Ingi Iusmen is Lecturer in Governance and Policy in the Department of Politics and IR (University of Southampton). Her research tackles key questions about the European policy process, EU Enlargement, protection of international children’s rights, EU human rights policy, civil society, and democratization of Central and Eastern Europe. Her most recent publications include Children's rights, Eastern enlargement and the EU human rights regime (2014) and The EU as a Children's Rights Actor: Law, Policy and Structural Dimensions (with Helen Stalford, 2016) .
