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In the context of the continuing debate around UK security and Brexit, Culmer Raphael Associate Malcolm Anderson - Emeritus Professor of Politics at Edinburgh University and an expert on Schengen, frontiers and cross border policing cooperation - gives his assessment of the arguments. Download the full assessment online here.

The UK is in many ways a semi-detached member of the EU. It did not adopt the Euro, it does not participate in the Schengen area, it ignores as far as possible the developing EU external and security policy, and it can pick and choose from within the areas of security, justice and police cooperation. Even the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is not fully applicable in the UK. Would it therefore make a significant difference to UK security if the country opted out of the EU altogether?

In this area there are no certainties and only more or less plausible scenarios. A fundamental flaw in the case for Brexit – as Philip Stephens pointed out in the Financial Times on 12 November 2015 –  is that the proponents of Britain leaving the EU have not developed a detailed strategy in the event of an “out” vote. This is strikingly the case in the area of security where assertions have taken the place of plausible scenarios and of strategies to confront the potential difficulties. The supporters of the remain campaign do not, of course, need to make proposals about what to do if the referendum vote favours Brexit.

The Security Field

Security is a broad area of activity, covering many topics from nuclear deterrence to neighbourhood security, including all policies which keep us, or allegedly keep us, safe. Generalisations about the effect of Brexit on the whole field should be avoided. Traditionally the field was split into internal and external security, threats from outside and disorder within the territory of the state. Internal and external security are now tending to merge, with some arguing that they have already merged, under the impact  of globalisation and more specific developments such as instability in the Islamic world and terrorist outrages. While we will treat external and internal security separately, the strong connections between them should not be forgotten.

External security usually falls within the sphere of the military and the security services acting on the
instructions of central government. Internal security is the responsibility of the police, the justice system and the internal security services, in the UK’s case MI5 and the special branch. In internal security the EU has established a series of instruments in the field of justice and home affairs while, although the EU is increasingly active diplomatically, the development of a common defence and security policy has been slow and hesitant, although it may well accelerate if the UK leaves the EU.

 

Key considerations

  • The slow development of a common EU defence and security policy could accelerate if the UK leaves the EU.
  • Internal security and judicial cooperation is perceived to be as important as the Single Market toEU cohesion in policy making circles in France, Germany and the Benelux, this is a potentially complicating factor in any post-Brexit negotiations.
  • Brexit would probably encourage increased cooperation between the remaining EU members on defence procurement and exports. France has already overtaken the UK in value of arms exports and Germany is a formidable competitor.
  • It is unlikely that the European Arrest Warrant could be applied in the UK in a similar form to now in the event of Brexit. The legal and technical difficulties are formidable.
  • The situation in Ireland could become very complex. If the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is kept open, the asylum seekers and migrants in Calais could choose to approach the UK via the Irish Republic.
  • There is a significant difference between feeling secure and being secure: although people may feel more secure if we take back control of our borders and have British border police checking on all foreigners coming into the UK, their security may in reality be better protected by the free movement of persons in the EU conjoined to close cooperation between police and security forces in partner countries.

 

Download the full document online here.