#Brexit +European Union must introduce flexible levels of EU membership.
The UK's decision to leave the European Union has taken most experts, politicians, economists, journalists and everyone else by surprise.
European leaders probably expected that the concessions they made at the request of UK Prime Minister David Cameron would be sufficient to ensure a remain vote in the UK's Brexit Referendum.
European leaders, like everyone else, appeared to have underestimated the concerns which British voters have about uncontrolled immigration and about extent to which increased political union in Europe has come at the price of decreased national sovereignty.
Now European leaders find themselves on the horns of a dilemma. Losing the UK, the fifth largest economy in the world as a member of the European Union will arguably affect the remaining members of the Union almost as adversely as will be the case with the UK itself.
Some European leaders may now wondering whether they could perhaps not have offered more meaningful concessions during their negotiations with David Cameron.
There is of course nothing to prevent the European Union from now agreeing a trade deal with the UK which permits bilateral trade between the UK as non-member and other European Union members on terms which are almost as mutually beneficial as before.
The problem with any such preferential arrangement for the UK would be that this could encourage other EU countries to vote to leave the EU in the hope that they too can negotiate an exit deal which permits cherry picking of preferred aspects of EU membership.
European leaders thus find themselves in the unenviable position of being compelled to negotiate an exit deal with the UK which serves to discourage other members from leaving the EU even if this has adverse consequences for both the EU & the UK.
At the same time, European leaders appear to recognise that the concerns which motivated a majority of the British people to vote leave are increasingly shared by other Europeans. Some have worry that the UK's Brexit vote could have a domino effect and cause other European's with similar concerns to demand a referendum on their countries' continued membership of the EU.
Throughout Europe, more people than ever are voicing concerns about uncontrolled immigration and the loss of national sovereignty through increased political union. Many point out that the EU started out as an economic union or trading block which has since morphed into increased political union which to many involves a lack of proper accountability to voters.
Throughout most of the world, it is an accepted principle that the citizens of every country have the right, if they so choose, to control the both the number of immigrants entering their countries in addition to having the right to prescribe reasonable criteria with which immigrants must comply.
The solution seems simple. The EU needs to provide for every member state to choose between various levels of European membership. The treaty would then provide that bilateral relations between any two member states would be in accordance with the terms of the lowest level of membership applicable to the two states concerned.
Level one would entail EU membership as it is now. This would include the present level of political union, the European Court, the right of EU citizens to live and work in any other EU country with level one membership, and the highest level of tariff free trade.
The other levels of membership could provide for flexible economic union, flexible applicability of European laws, with free-trade in the mid-level memberships and reduced yet preferential trade tariffs at the lower levels.
The levels could also include the present unrestricted rights of citizens to choose to live and work where they wish at the mid-level membership, and a lower level of membership which permits members to exercise control over the right of EU citizens to live, work and receive benefits in other EU countries. One could for example restrict entry in respect of the right to work in other EU countries to those with an pre-existing contract of employment. This would allow for each member state to select a level of membership in accordance with their choice of restriction of all other rights of entry, the rights of citizenship and the right to refuse benefits to other EU citizens.
The extent of contributions which each member would pay to the EU would be determined according to the level of membership.
Whether I have stumbled upon a workable solution or not can be debated. What cannot be debated is the need to introduce a far more flexible EU membership structure which allows for member states to enjoy more choice in regard to the extent of the political and the economic union of member states.
If the EU were to introduce flexible levels of EU membership, the UK government would no difficulty in calling for a fresh referendum which could provide for UK voters to choose their first and second choice levels of EU membership. The option to votes Leave would obviously also be an option. The first choice could count for two points, the second for one point and level of EU membership with the most points would be the one the government would be obliged to opt for.
I would suggest the above approach would eliminate most of the problems and the uncertainty which the Brexit Vote has now caused.
SIEGFRIED WALTHER - 25 June 2016
