Column : Central but decentralised

Hugo Dixon

The euro crisis is forcing eurozone nations to rethink how they wish to run their currency union. It is also forcing European Union (EU) countries that don’t use the single currency, such as Britain, to rethink their relationship with Europe.

We have three main options: quit the EU; move to the edge as the eurozone pushes towards closer union; and seek to stay at the heart of Europe and influence its development in a way that promotes our interests.

There are members of my own Conservative party who would like Britain to quit. There are others who would like us to move to the periphery. But I am determined to make sure that we stay at the centre.

Let me deal, first, with the argument that Britain’s interests would be enhanced if we were no longer in the EU. Being a member costs us money, partly to subsidise anti-competitive practices such as the Common Agricultural Policy; it also requires us to follow a mass of rules, some of which inhibit our competitiveness. But half our trade is with the rest of the EU. It would be madness to cut ourselves off from a rich single market of 500 million people.

Of course, leaving the EU would not automatically mean that we would lose access to the single market. Switzerland and Norway are part of the same free trade zone without being EU members. But

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