Geir Waage questions the value of surrendering national sovereignty

In an opinion article published by mbl.is, Reverend Geir Waage argues that the results of a British survey show little support for giving up national sovereignty in exchange for greater access to the European Union market.

Waage cites a survey commissioned by the organisation Britain Unbound and published by the Telegraph. Former Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said Brexit supporters had stopped campaigning after winning the 2016 referendum, while opponents had continued their efforts.

The survey asked respondents how far they would accept restrictions on laws and regulations in exchange for further access to the EU market. In England, 59% rejected such restrictions and 27% supported them. In Scotland, 54% rejected them and 34% supported them. In Wales, 59% rejected them and 24% supported them.

Waage writes that the results indicate that closer EU integration does not suit the United Kingdom. He says freedom from what he describes as burdensome EU regulations would create opportunities for growth, while the regulations would suppress economic activity.

He also refers to Rees-Mogg’s assessment that the EU’s share of global trade has fallen from about 30% when Britain joined the European Communities in the 1970s to an expected 10% in 2040. Rees-Mogg attributes the decline to high energy costs, extensive welfare and social security systems, the influence of trade unions and rising unemployment.

Waage says Rees-Mogg does not mention the cost to Britain and EU countries of NATO’s war effort. He argues that European countries have rejected cheap Russian energy while bearing the cost of the war in Ukraine. In his view, those expenditures must at least have accelerated Europe’s economic collapse, although he acknowledges that the continent’s financial difficulties cannot all be attributed to the conflict with Russia.

Waage also criticises Iceland’s current and former foreign ministers, saying they have committed the country to the conflict and to hostility towards Russia that could damage future trade. He says Iceland’s commitments are largely unknown and claims the current foreign minister appears to have kept them secret, including from Alþingi’s Foreign Affairs Committee.

He writes that it will be instructive to see whether parliament can obtain the commitments when it reconvenes, and how it will follow up on the result of an Icelandic referendum held on Höfuðdagur. According to Waage, Icelanders reached the same conclusion as the British respondents cited in the survey.