Why UK needs its seat at the top table

Ian Bond, of the Centre for European Reform, argues that if Britain stays in the EU it must find new ways of projecting its power. Britain could help the EU to construct a data-sharing and privacy regime able to withstand challenges in the European Court of Justice. There is a case for Britain backing more EU collaboration in operational intelligence-sharing (against people smugglers in Libya for example) and boosting defence research. Britain, said Mr Bond, “should accept that the market alone will not protect central European countries reliant on Russian gas”. The government should work together with the Commission to ensure that Moscow cannot use the supply of gas to weaker EU members as a weapon.