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Financial Centre and Monetary Outsider: How Precarious is the UK 's Position in the EU ?
Author(s) -
Schelkle Waltraud
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the political quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.373
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-923X
pISSN - 0032-3179
DOI - 10.1111/1467-923x.12243
Subject(s) - position (finance) , veto , negotiation , government (linguistics) , economic and monetary union , corporate governance , brexit , economic governance , currency , economics , political science , finance , business , european union , international trade , law , politics , linguistics , philosophy , monetary economics
The UK 's negotiating position in the area of ‘economic governance’ started from the assumption that there is a deep dividing line between insiders and outsiders of the ‘euro zone’. To protect the outsiders, the UK government did not ask for a veto, but for a safeguard mechanism that can postpone a decision in the euro area. This is exactly what David Cameron achieved in the negotiations with Council President Tusk. This article explains why the UK demands were so modest. Key is the peculiar situation of the UK being the major financial centre for a currency union to which it does not belong. Hence, the UK taxpayer needs protection from the City, and EU membership has helped to provide this. There is not much else a UK government could ask for.