Yes to Europe, No to federalism

David Owen explains how he reconciles his pro-Europeanism with opposition to British membership of a single European currency. Lord Owen was Britain’s foreign secretary from 1977-79 and EU co-chairman of the international conference on the former Yugoslavia from 1992-95. (A longer version of this article is available.)

Jan 22nd 1998|

MY POLITICAL career has been dominated by the question of British membership of the European Community. I have resigned three times, with the EU as the most important issue each time. On the first two occasions, I was protesting against the Labour Party's negative attitude to Europe. In 1972 I resigned with Roy Jenkins from my position as a junior defence spokesman for the Labour Party; and in 1980 I stood down from the Labour shadow cabinet when the implacably anti-European Michael Foot was elected leader.

In 1987, when the Social Democrats voted to merge with the Liberals, I resigned as the SDP's leader because I knew the centre of gravity of the Liberal Democrats would be decisively federalist. I did not consider it would be possible, or even legitimate, to attempt to change the Liberals' long-standing commitment to European federalism.

This article appeared in the By Invitation section of the print edition under the headline “Yes to Europe, No to federalism”