Europe remains a political challenge for the UK and for the Liberal Democrats. Where the national interest clearly demands British membership of the EU to access and influence the single market, and to leverage British influence globally, the political debate often revolves around a caricature of the EU  that brings no benefits and big responsibilities. Where the liberal reform agenda to make European institutions more accountable and cost-effective, to make Europe more economically competitive have widespread support in Europe, there is a danger that a repatriation narrative will fail at the diplomatic hurdle, and hand victory to those in Europe who want less reform and to see the UK leave. And while the Eurozone pursues deeper integration, there is a challenge to the UK to maintain influence, and to be seen to be supportive of efforts towards economic stability on the continent.

In this context I attended the consultation session on Liberal Democrat policy for Europe in Brighton this afternoon. Here are a few of the points that were raised;

• The case for Europe must be strongly made: that negotiation rather than war should be the means of resolving conflicts, that there are huge benefits in terms of peace, prosperity, freedom, security and civil rights to our membership of the EU, and this point needs to be made more strongly and more often.

• Do we want the greater economic uncertainty that would result from a referendum or not?

• There are elements to the Cameron narrative that can be seen as constructive, such as working for economic competitiveness. But it is also set up to go down a route of confrontation, diplomatic failure and exit. It is vital to push this in the right direction.

• The UK could do better using existing mechanisms to scrutinise European legislation. As a comparison, the Danish Parliament quite effective at scrutiny of EU policy. The Committee of the Regions also underused.

• There is still not enough being done to prevent British “gold plating” of EU policies.

• 3.5 million jobs depend on trade with the EU.

• Completion of the single market in services is particularly important to Britain because of our strong services sector.

• The UK could negotiate a free trade deal with the US alone, but we wouldn’t get as good a deal as we would as part of the EU. Multilateral trade negotiations have stalled for the time being. Plurilateral agreements are a way forward, but offer less opportunity for the developing world to compete, so there is a fairness issue here.

• The UK has been very much in the leadership in the area of justice and security policy in the EU for the last 15 years. The European Arrest Warrant is a poster boy for Eurosceptics, and there are some problems with it, but they can be fixed. We cannot afford to be an offshore safe haven for criminals.

• The question in the consultation paper “What are the pros and cons of the UK remaining outside much of the EU’s rules on immigration and asylum?” was reported in one newspaper as Lib Dems propose laxer border controls!

All in all this was an informative and wide-ranging debate, shaping up into a powerful policy offer, meeting the challenge of the globalised world and defending Britain’s enlightened interests.

* Joe Otten was the candidate for Sheffield Heeley in June 2017 and Doncaster North in December 2019 and is a councillor in Sheffield.