Special report: What has the EU done for Sussex?

As the debate on Britain’s membership intensifies, TIM RIDGWAY, JOHN KEENAN PETER TRUMAN AND CHARLOTTE IKONEN ask what
has the EU done for Sussex?

LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Among the beneficiaries of the EU are local authorities.

With the Government tightening its belt and reducing funding to town halls, councils have been forced to look elsewhere for money to pay for projects.

Brighton and Hove City Council is one of the major beneficiaries, receiving tens of thousands of pounds in the last few years.

Among the projects through EU-backed Interreg include a project at the Royal Pavilion to commemorate the Great War and employment projects designed to get residents into work.

The creation of an open air common room in Providence Place, Brighton and free sessions for those affected by other’s drug use were also funded by Brussels.

Perhaps less successful were the cycle counters in Lewes and London Roads, which were removed after repeatedly being damaged.

Council leader Jason Kitcat said: “The Interreg projects are immensely important to Brighton and Hove not least because they provide an opportunity to work with other authorities and overseas partners to see how they’ve addressed similar challenges in their regions.

“The programmes offer a substantial amount of funding and we are clearly benefitting.

“Our aim is to boost the city’s economy, the quality of the environment and life for our residents.”

East Sussex County Council said it had received about £1 million directly from the European Union in the last five years.

A spokesman added it would have received more through other national bodies which were partly funded by Brussels.

Among the scheme to benefits from European money include a scheme to open up the countryside and a £9.5 million plan to increase capacity at small to medium ports in the English Channel.

West Sussex County Council also received some funding towards its Leader project, which saw farmers given grants as a way to create a thriving rural economy.

ENVIRONMENT

Picture: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

Perhaps the area where the EU has had the biggest affect is the environment.

While Britain used to be the dirty man of Europe, membership of the union has meant that the country has had to get up to speed with strict targets set from Brussels.

Drinking water and beaches have already improved immeasurably thanks to the EU’s mix of “soft” targets and “strong arm” fines if these are not reached.

Sussex is also starting to become landfill-free, largely due to the fines that Brussels were looking to impose on local authorities.

However, with recycling levels still remaining low, an incinerator has been built in Newhaven to process the waste.

The latest issue is air pollution, with Brighton and Hove City Council particularly concerned that it will face a hefty fine if it cannot control congestion in its built-up areas.

FARMING

Steve Hook, a dairy farmer in Hailsham, said the EU had benefitted small farm owners in the county.

Mr Hook said: “On the whole the EU has been good for Sussex farmers.

“I’m not sure the NFU would agree with me but it is about context and east Sussex is grade 3 land.

“That means the cost of production is higher and we cannot produce as much.

“We are competing against grade 1 soil.

“There are a lot of small family farms, and without the common agricultural policy support we receive a lot of them would have disappeared a long time ago.

“If we left the treaty we might have more money but there is no guarantee the Government would put that money back into farming.

“Farming needs to be viable and if we did not get the support we would be in trouble – would the Government support some of these schemes?

“For example, the single farm payment acts as a lifeline for a lot of farmers.”

FISHING

Jerry Percy, of the New Under Tens Fishermen’s Association, said he could not think of one thing the EU had done to help the Sussex fish industry.

He added: “The trade barriers are down so it has made it slightly easier to trade but that is dwarfed by the fact we gave up our fishing rights in our own waters.

He said: “Well over 60 per cent of European fish came from UK waters.

“The common fishing policy has been a complete, unmitigated disaster.

“We suddenly had to share our waters with all the other member states who had allegedly historic rights.

“We lost 30 per cent of vessels and the jobs that go with them.”

BUSINESS

Tony Mernagh, executive director at the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership, said that, as the two largest economic trading blocks in the world, Europe and the United States, are in the process of putting together a bilateral trade agreement it is an interesting time to ask what the EU ever did for us.

He pointed out that if the UK – and by default Sussex – was outside the EU it could still trade with both Europe and America.

Mr Mernagh said that in his personal view is part of our current problem was that more than 40% of our exports currently go to the EU.

He said: “Exporting firms in the UK have shown a tendency to export to Europe before considering more distant and risky locations, becauseUKfirms are better protected by being part of the EU club.

“Europe is languishing somewhat at present which is an issue for UK exporters but the possibility of a trade deal with America is a lip-smacking prospect for future growth potential.

“Some people think that by leaving the EU, with one bound we would be free from their rules and regulations.

“In reality we would still have to abide by all of them that cover the exports we send to Europe and the sale of consumer products in the European market.

“We just wouldn’t have any influence over them. Being dictated to by Brussels seems to stick in the craw of most Eurosceptics.”

Wendy Bell, general manager at Sussex Enterprise, the county’s chamber of commerce, said: “Companies tell us that the burden of European regulation and legislation is in danger of making them less competitive in the global market.

“The majority of Sussex businesses are not involved with trade with the EU yet still have to adhere to it burdensome regulations.

Critics of the EU argue that, if Britain were to leave the European Union, small and medium-sized businesses would be freed from EU regulation which would mean that there would be a jobs boom. However, in contrast, if Britain remains in the European Union millions of jobs could be lost with global manufacturersmoving their operations to lower cost EU countries.

“If we left the EU, theUKwould be free to establish trade agreements with fast-growing export markets such as China and Brazil.

However, others argue that the UK must not isolate itself by leaving the EU and we are in a better position to secure beneficial trade deals being a member of the European Union.”

Charles Bellière, partner at BSW Building Services in Haywards Heath said: “Although EU membership is a contentious issue and political hot potato, there are many benefits for Sussex businesses.

“These include access to a diverse workforce, positioning to secure beneficial trade deals and lucrative potential custom for those wanting to expand overseas.

“Also, the fact that safety and technical standards are consistent across the board makes doing business a lot easier and eliminates red tape. In addition, the ability to freely trade between countries is important.”

POLITICIANS

Yesterday the Conservatives published a parliamentary bill setting terms for a referendum on whether the UK should leave the European Union.

This followed the success of the UK Independence Party in the local elections and Tory backbench MPs unhappy at the lack of an ‘in-out’ vote in the Queen’s Speech.

But where do our MPs stand on the perennial political hot potato?

IN: Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “I support the idea of a referendum on EU membership, but not because I’m anti- EU– because I’m prodemocracy.

“The EU has delivered many great benefits since the Second World War – maintaining peace and introducing crucial laws to protect our wildlife, the environment and human health.

Today we enjoy cleaner drinking water, cleaner beaches and cleaner air as a result.

“Yet European institutions have also become too unaccountable and remote from the people they’re meant to serve.

“If we get the referendum that David Cameron has promised, I’ll vote to stay in the EU and keep the UK’s place at the negotiating table – but campaign for a more democratic EU with less remote decision-making and a more convincing vision of the EU’s role and purpose.”

IN: Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, said: “My position is very clear. We are a coalition Government, and with that in mind if there was a referendum we would vote to stay in the EU.

“Sussex is close to France, so we benefit from cross- Channel co-operation.

Sussex has benefited from Interreg funding, which has helped Newhaven greatly. You have to be careful what you wish for. TheEUis far from perfect but if we were to leave it would be catastrophic for this country.”

OUT: Tim Loughton, Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said: “I am part of the EU Fresh Start Group so we have produced a manifesto as the basis for our substantial renegotiation of membership before a referendum.

“We are currently discussing this with a variety of European politicians andambassadors and have the support of the Foreign Secretary.

“How I vote in the 2017 referendum depends on just how much we have managed to change our relationship with the EU back to nearer what most people voted to stay in back in 1975 based on a trading block and single market and without most of the other stuff which has overtaken it since.

“However if there were a referendum tomorrow based on maintaining our existing relationship I would definitely vote to come out.”

OUT: Mike Weatherley, Conservative MP for Hove, said: “If there was a vote today I would vote to come out. However, I would be keen to stay in if there was negotiation of 20 points set out by the Group for European Reform.

“I am not optimistic that these points will be negotiated successfully though.

“There are positive aspects of the EU but at the moment the problems outweigh the good aspects.

“We do not want socialism through the back door.”

OUT: Simon Kirby, Conservative MP for Kemptown, said: “If there was a referendum tomorrow then I would vote to leave the EU, because in its current form it is not operating in the interests of my constituents.

However, I support the Prime Minister’s efforts to negotiate a new settlement before 2015, so that the British people have the best possible choice at a referendum in the next Parliament.”

IN: Nicholas Soames, Tory MP for Mid Sussex, said: “May I beg this House to remember that with all its imperfections and with all the problems that it has, our country has free and fair access to the single largest integrated economic area in the world – a single market of 27 countries and of 500 million people, with a gross domestic product of 60 trillion US dollars.

“I could not possibly look my constituents in the eye and tell them that I was prepared to risk it, so I urge this House to support the Prime Minister and the Government in this orderly process already announced which will result in a referendum and which I am confident will be a positive one for the United Kingdom.”