Britain deserves better than "intermediate membership" of the eu | thearticle

Britain is about to become an “intermediate member” of the EU. This is much more than a humiliation — it is a catastrophe. You read it here first. Yesterday I wrote that today’s Brussels

summit would reduce Britain to a “second-class, semi-detached, non-voting member of the EU”. Now our closest neighbours, the French, have come up with a name for this lower status. For the

duration of any extension granted today, the UK will be forced to accept that it is henceforth “an intermediate member” of the European Union. An intermediate member? That is no less

unprecedented than Brexit in the history of the European project. There is nothing in the treaties about such a loss of rights for a country that, for the time being, remains a fully paid-up

member in good standing. If the European Council decides to follow the French lead, as several governments have already indicated they will, then they will be making up the rules as they go

along. Well, what did we expect? Given the near-certainty that Theresa May will be replaced as Prime Minister sooner rather than later, given the threats of disruption uttered by prominent

Brexiteers, who oppose any extension, the EU was bound to take some action to deter a future British leader from going rogue. Inventing this new “intermediate membership” may therefore be

defended by the EU as a prophylactic measure. Yet even if one accepts that the rationale for Britain’s reduction in status is self-defence rather than punishment, it is still a legal and

political innovation with huge implications. This is the biggest alteration in the UK’s international status since we joined the EU nearly half a century ago. And it is happening without the

British having any say in it at all. Three of these implications can already be discerned. In the first place, intermediate membership would appear to be indefinite in duration and scope.

There is no guarantee that the UK would ever regain full membership, even if it decided on reflection to revoke Article 50. Any restoration of full membership would be entirely at the

discretion of the European Council, with no right of appeal. In the second place, for as long as this intermediate status applies, the UK would continue to bear all the financial burdens and

legal obligations of membership, but without any of the rights or privileges. Finally, if the EU can unilaterally strip the British of their rights even before they leave, then it can do

the same to any other member state that steps out of line. Hence today’s emergency European Council is about far more than Brexit. Donald Tusk, the President of the Council, has appealed to

President Macron, the architect of the intermediate membership idea, not to “humiliate” the British by requiring a regular review of their “good behaviour”. But for Britain, this is far more

than a humiliation. Indeed, the proposal to keep our conduct under review is a mere detail. What matters is the loss of legal and political status. We are to be stripped of the rights that

every other member, from the Balkans to the Baltic, has automatically enjoyed as soon as they join the club. Why didn’t the Government see this coming? Why wasn’t Parliament debating it this

week, instead of removing the only card the Prime Minister had left to play by outlawing a no deal Brexit? Angela Merkel at least had the decency to acknowledge this self-denying ordinance

by the British legislature as “a treasure”. Like Macron and the other 27, however, the German Chancellor has simply pocketed this concession. What the UK gets in return is the political

equivalent of an officer being reduced to the ranks after a court martial. Our epaulettes ripped off, our cap and badges removed, we will for the foreseeable future have no choice but to

obey orders. Britain deserves better than this. The Prime Minister cannot agree to such a sacrifice of our prestige, our sovereignty and our standing in the world without at least explaining

to Parliament and to the people what “intermediate membership” actually means. It is much more than a humiliation — it is a catastrophe.