The government formally ratified the EU Constitution/Lisbon Treaty. It did so despite having promised us a referendum, and despite the Irish ‘No’ vote. Shame on our government. With luck this episode will serve to further undermine the legitimacy of the EU project. Yet what does this all say about the way foreign policy is made?
It seems undeniable that the driving force behind our Europe policy is the Foreign Office. What difference has it made to Europe policy which Prime Minister has occupied Number 10 – Brown, Blair, Major et al? What does it matter which MP happens to be called Europe Minister? There is a continuity in Europe policy that can only be explained by Foreign Office mandarins calling the shots. Rather like the QCA in education, or NICE in health, it is the permanent quangocracy of the FCO that really run things. Preening politicians only pretend they do (For a recent example of this see Ed Balls over the SATS fiasco). How can changing Foreign Office ministers on its own change much, when the only choices Sir Humphrey Appleby permits them to make are on the wine list?
Conservatives wanting to change our relationship with Europe need to start thinking in terms of transformation at the Foreign Office – not just changing Ministers. Without making the institution of the FCO more directly accountable, more Eurosceptic policy outcomes are not possible. That means something more than the bogus system of supposed accountability via Ministers to Parliament. As long as foreign policy is in the hands of unaccountable Foreign Office officials, it is rarely likely to serve the national interest. That must be one lesson to draw from Lisbon.
Douglas Carswell MP, The European Journal/Centre Right, October 2008.
