SELLING CITIZENSHIP
A campaign advertising the rights available
CITIZENSHIP is a powerful privilege. Palmerston sent the British fleet to Piraeus after Don Pacifico, a native of Gibraltar and a British citizen, had his house burned down in an Athens riot. The huddled masses arriving at the Statue of Liberty were sustained on their journey across the Atlantic by the secular grail of American citizenship. The client races subjugated by the Romans yearned only to be able to proclaim civic Romanus sum, and to enjoy the rights and freedoms that came with those words.
Today's client races are the peoples of Europe, and the forum that matters is in Brussels. Almost without knowing it, we have acquired a dual nationality and become citizens of Europe as well as of our native nation state. And lest we are tempted to dismiss this privilege as an empty title, the European Commission is mounting a new advertising campaign to remind its newly acquired citizens of the benefits of the European state. The Citizens First programme, launched in London last month, cost the European taxpayer around £17 million last year and a further £4 million this year. Britons can now obtain a series of guides to their rights as European citizens, in 25 languages, includ- ing Gaelic and Welsh, or call a hotline num- ber (0800 581591) to be told personally about the advantages of Europe. Among the rights which we are being encouraged to take advantage of is the right to cancel your contract with a travelling salesman.
To make certain that everyone knows about this opportunity, taxpayers are also paying for extensive advertising in regional and national newspapers, on London radio stations, and on those strange televisions in post offices which usually bombard unsuspecting stamp-buyers with adverts for Saga holidays. The Commission, explaining firmly that it is 'not ashamed' of the cost of the campaign, admits that it has spent over £600,000 on this advertising so far, with more to come.
The radio advert begins with three dis- embodied voices proclaiming, 'The man- agement accepts no responsibility for this situation', 'Sorry, your flight is fully booked' and 'Actually, we had a man in mind for this job'. The announcer then explains that 'the European Union guaran- tees your rights in many everyday situa- tions'. In other words, it is made quite clear that Britons, at home on their island, can take advantage of an alternative and supe- rior set of rights to those on offer through the British legal system.
Nor are these rights balanced by duties. One government minister bravely tried to argue to me that these rights were balanced by the equal and opposite obligation for citizens to 'get on their bikes and go and get a job overseas', but the text of the advertising makes it quite clear that they can take advantage of the whingers' hotline while resting at home on their sofa watch- ing daytime television.
It is no coincidence that this programme has been launched much later in Britain than in other European countries. The Commis- sion claims that the delay was caused by the election, but in fact it was blocked by the Conservative government. As one MEP explained to me, 'The reality of it is that everything the European Commission office in London does is subject to HMG approval.' Tony Blair, who is personally posi- tive about Europe but realises that the elec- torate does not share. this enthusiasm, sees such advertising campaigns as a clever way to promote his European agenda while allow- ing him to blame the exercise on Brussels.
Of course, this is only the first wave of the propaganda offensive. The next, and far more insidious, stage will involve pro- moting the single currency. Edward Macmillan Scott, the leader of the Conser- vative group in the European Parliament, told me that the Tories had always opposed extending the programme to Britain, on the grounds that it would preju- dice the argument over whether or not Britain should discard the pound. New Labour suffer from no such scruples.
They wish to take advantage of the £15 million pot of European cash currently sit- ting in a Brussels bank vault and available for use by those European governments that want to explain to their citizens about the values and virtues of the new currency. The Chancellor is this week meeting Com- missioner de Silguy to discuss how much of this money he can obtain for Britain. In theory, some could be available for pres- sure groups, but the Commission indicates that this is unlikely.
Which will, of course, leave all the funds allocated to Britain for the government to spend. Mr Brown has yet to finally decide what to do with this windfall, but a consor- tium of advertising companies from around Europe is being recruited to promote the new currency. One advertising man admit- ted to me that quite apart from his own views on the subject there was powerful commercial pressure on him to join this loose alliance, and little prospect of making any money out of opposition to EMU. In the meantime, the flow of so-called infor- mation has already begun; a newsletter, describing itself as part of the 'information programme for the European citizen', and entitled InfEuro, was in my post this week. It seems unlikely that those opposed to monetary union will be able to fund a simi- lar campaign. The Conservative party, despite its supposedly clear leadership line, remains hopelessly divided over the issue and in any case is very short of money. Some Eurosceptics, such as the Yorkshire magnate Paul Sykes, do have the cash to buy the necessary advertising space, but so far no co-ordinating alliance has emerged from the morass of conflicting Eurosceptic interests and personalities.
In other European countries, where there is little disagreement over the value of the European Union and the single cur- rency, such advertising campaigns may be a proper use of taxpayers funds, helping to inform the democratic process. In Britain, where politicians, press and people remain divided over discarding the pound and where a vigorous and well-informed debate over the merits of the Euro has been going on for some time, the use of European funds to advertise the single currency is a perversion of the democratic process.
This month's launch of Citizens First marks the start of a subtle campaign, fund- ed with our own money and inspired by the Prime Minister, to convert Britain to the European cause. Sadly, despite our status as citizens of Europe, we do not have the right to reject such propaganda.
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