I see people are arguing about EU state aid and competition rules again. As ever, this seems to be generating a lot of heat and not much light. Here are some key points which I think both sides of the debate sometimes overlook. Thread:
There is no universal right answer to the question “are EU state aid & competition rules problematic?” This is because the answer depends on your political standpoint. Broadly: EU state aid & competition rules are accommodating of social democracy, but not democratic socialism
It’s true that there are exemptions for certain social and environmental areas which means governments are allowed to provide state aid in certain areas. It’s also true that EU rules don’t prohibit public ownership per se.
However, the rules are rooted in the idea that goods & services are most efficiently produced by profit maximising firms operating in a competitive market, & that the state should only intervene in ways that don’t distort competition, or which correct identifiable market failures
Ergo: if your political goals involve mounting a serious challenge to this logic, and moving beyond moderate social democracy, then these rules are a barrier. However, if you are happy with moderate European social democracy, then the rules are not a major issue.
Informed disagreements over state aid etc are almost always a proxy for deeper ideological differences over political economy. However, just because these rules are problematic for socialists does not automatically mean that socialists should support leaving the EU
A convincing case for Brexit must also be able to demonstrate: a) that these constraints can only be escaped by leaving the EU, b) that a Brexit UK will be able to exert greater sovereignty than as an EU member; and c) that the benefits of leaving will more than offset the costs
In this essay I examine each of these in turn. I know that many will disagree with the conclusion I arrive at, but hopefully it provides some useful insights that can help people make up their own minds: opendemocracy.net/can-europe-mak…
