Last week, the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions held a debate on the UK 'Brexit' referendum ahead of the CoR April plenary session. This week, Councillor Paul Watson, Leader of Sunderland City Council and Chair of the UK delegation in the CoR, gave us his take on UK membership of the EU.
As leader of Sunderland City Council, how do you see EU membership affecting your city and the North East region?
Earlier this year, Sunderland City Council passed a Notice of Motion stating our belief that it is in the best interests of the City of Sunderland that the United Kingdom remains a member of the European Union. Since then we’ve learned that the UK referendum on whether to remain a member or not will be held on Thursday 23 June. Since the date was announced, the debate has intensified and despite the deluge of well-argued points on both sides, I haven’t changed my view.
Put simply, the EU’s aims are very much aligned with those of my Council. Like us, the EU wants to help create jobs, stimulate the local economy, promote urban regeneration, ensure a clean environment and protect our residents. I am clear that efforts in Sunderland – and indeed the wider North East region - to achieve these aims could not have happened, to the degree they have, without the support of the EU.
In the last 20 years, Sunderland and the North East have benefited enormously from EU financial contributions to vital infrastructure projects such as the Tyne and Wear Metro (light passenger rail) extension and a range of flagship buildings and locations that support businesses to start up or locate here. A vast number of these businesses go on to expand and flourish, helping to develop the area's reputation as a global leader in industries such as IT and Digital and Advanced Manufacturing. Fantastic leisure and sports facilities such as the Sunderland Aquatic Centre have also been made possible with EU support. Indeed something in the region of £1 billion of EU structural funds have been received for initiatives in this region, and it is estimated that for every £1 contributed to the EU, the North East receives £10 in return (per capita).
Of equal importance to a region such as ours is the EU’s role in ensuring a level playing field for our companies to export to countries overseas, creating the world’s largest consumer market to attract foreign investment and underpinning it with respect for human values and social justice.
It is clear to me that the presence and huge success of Nissan in Sunderland, which has benefited not just the city but the entire region and indeed the UK, results in large part from the fact that we are inside the EU. This is a view supported by recent figures from the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) showing that we are in the unique position of being a region with a surplus of trade to the EU, underpinned by an export base that actually grew slightly by 0.2% in 2015 to pass the £7 billion mark.
The same ease of interaction and movement around Europe for our people, and the ability to travel at relatively low cost for business or pleasure, is also hugely beneficial. In the past few years, many North Easterners have come to regard taking a flight from the region’s airports, to everywhere from Brussels to Barcelona, to be as simple as catching a local bus – and it is certainly quicker and more enjoyable than driving three or four hours to one of the cities in the North West of England, which are only 100 miles or so away! To diminish this sense of true integration within Europe in any way would, in my view, significantly harm many people’s quality of life and sense of community.
I do not deny that some EU rules and regulations can appear unwieldy and bring with them unnecessary burdens and ‘red-tape’. The EU, out of necessity, is an incredibly complex creature, but there has to be a reason why we’ve stuck with it and worked tirelessly to simplify and improve the Union ever since it was created.
This is why I’m so passionate about the Committee of the Regions and my role within it as Chair of the UK delegation. The CoR provides an opportunity to scrutinise rules and regulations and ensure they are necessary and relevant to achieving their aims, that they are proportionate, and do not have any unintended consequences. Far from being a bureaucratic brute, to me, the EU is an institution open to influence and transformation, if we are prepared to offer our views and support.
And let us not forget, in these increasingly unstable times, that the EU was born out of the ashes of the Second World War, to ensure peace, democracy and rule of law.
As always, referenda results can be difficult to call, but come Thursday 23 June, it is my sincerest hope that the UK public votes with pragmatism, in full understanding of the many positive aspects of EU membership.
