Thoughts of an exiled German about the forthcoming EU referendum in the UK

I received an e-mail from the Parliamentary Outreach Service with an invitation to voice my views on the UK and its EU membership. It reads like this:

The Foreign Affairs Committee is holding an inquiry into the costs and benefits of EU membership for the UK's foreign policy.

Although foreign policy remains primarily a matter for national governments in the European Union, leaving the EU could have significant implications for the UK’s alliances and strategic partnerships, standing in other international organisations, soft power and national security.

This inquiry will help inform public debate in advance of the upcoming referendum on EU membership.

The Committee is interested in receiving evidence on topics including:

·         whether and in what ways EU membership helps or hinders the UK in achieving its foreign policy goals

·         how the UK's role on the global stage might change if it votes to leave the EU

There is not overly much one can do in a representative democracy other than voting and petitioning, so I think I need to voice my views, since as German, who has lived in the UK for nearly 20 years, I am not allowed to vote in the forthcoming referendum on EU membership. I believe this is questionable, because a negative vote would affect me as European citizen in this country and my right of residency under the EU Treaty. Strangely enough, if I had been Irish or Cypriot I’d have been able to vote. This seems unjust.

It is difficult to comment on topic 1 as it appears pretty unclear to me (and probably everyone who reads this) what the UK’s foreign policy goals are. One can try and think about the other topic, the what-ifs in case of the UK leaving the EU.

Apparently, it was Churchill, de Gaulle and Adenauer who sat together after WW2 and decided to start up with this European dream of never having war again; and the European Community was founded. A lot has happened after that and it seems, the UK has withdrawn its involvement from the EU and left it all to Germany and France, which I think is a real shame, as the UK could play such a pivotal role; it’s one of Europe’s strongest economies and biggest countries after all! 70 years after the end of WW2 the 3 forefathers of this modern Europe were right – we have had peace on EU grounds ever since.

I truly believe in the principle of subsidiarity – where each political institution decides what’s best for its citizens and where it has an expertise when it comes to decision-making. Say, why should Austria decide on fishing issues in the North Sea and why should Ireland have its say in the issue of Alpine erosion, etc. There are many cases where the EU probably decided too much; the cucumber springs to mind. But there are also many cases where I truly believe the EU should be “sticking together” far more as one big entity. This is particularly the case in a world that is dominated by big blocks of powers – the US, Russia, China, the Middle East – and emerging new powers, such as Brazil and India. And when looking at the map, Europe is right in the middle of all of them.

Sometimes I feel the UK never got over the fact that it lost the Empire; and its replacement - the Commonwealth - is more like a plaything for the Queen rather than a serious political institution. Having lost the Empire, Britain is where it was in Stuart dynasty times – a European island; politically powerful, culturally tenacious, economically strong, but otherwise, on the big scheme of world issues, of medium significance. The Victorian “Rule Britannia” doesn’t exist anymore.

Scotland recently voted to stay within the UK. It was a narrow result and with the SNP rising in influence (it currently has more or less ALL Scottish seats in Westminster) the scare of another Scottish independence vote is not over, just postponed. And I bet my left arm, with the UK leaving the EU (instigated by the majority English vote) Scotland’s SNP will rise up again to the occasion and leave the UK; and rightly so! England alone (Wales and NI are too unimportant) would be even more dwarfed than it already post-imperially is. It would be size of Tudor England.

What I am missing in the political debate in England (as much as I miss it abroad these days) is celebrating the advantages of being in the EU. The only thing one hears is negativity – red tape in Brussels (as if there were none in Westminster), the financial cost of membership (as if there weren’t any benefits), over-regulations (cucumbers and stuff), mass immigration (Romanians are all criminals), undemocratic legitimization of EU institutions (as if the UK with its voting system were any more democratic and egalitarian), and the rule of European bureaucrats over English lands. Sure, the EU needs reform, and I’d even say it needs big and deep reforms, but it’s not all bad what comes from there and I would wish a bit more of an objective public debate about it.

The question is also, in case the UK opts for leaving the EU, do we want to become like Norway or Switzerland? In the end, when wanting to trade with the EU, and everyone does, they have to adapt to any regulations coming from Brussels. That’s the price they pay for their “independence”. Is that really where the UK wants to head towards? I simply wish our country would be a stronger player in the EU, a decision maker; it should take on a more active role and actually celebrate being European AND British AND English OR Scottish OR Welsh OR Irish. The UK is so diverse in itself, what’s wrong with embracing one more identity, a European one, especially in times where the world goes more and more global?

In many European countries there are nationalistic movements away from Brussels and the EU – e. g. the AfD in Germany, Le Front National in France, and of course UKIP in our country, plus a few Tory backbenchers. Rather than going into defense mode by announcing a referendum, only to appease backbenchers and counter-attack UKIP, I would have wished for the government to demonstrate proper leadership, take on an active role in Europe and become the driving force to make the EU an institution that is more democratic, less bureaucratic and more visible to its citizens. It’s the 21^st century and in the UK and elsewhere we need to think globally which for us Europeans means Europe. It’s not such a bad thing after all, let’s dare!

Triggering Epiphanies

Have you ever had those moments when you suddenly and completely out of the blue decided something which has had a long-lasting impact, which has changed your life? Those are "epiphany moments". One has to cherish them, as they don't come often in life, but once they are there, we need to grasp them and just go for whatever there is to do! Epiphanies should always result in actions. That's why coaches and consultants like me like them so much. 

There is always a way out!

I have had a few in my life, they tend to appear very sporadically, unexpectedly, some are stronger, some are weaker, and of course, the stronger the better. They can reach levels of excitement to an orgasmic scale.

I had one recently:

It happened on 30 June 2015: I got up, had a coffee, decided to go to the local gym and sign up for membership, went to my wardrobe, packed a bag, went down the hill to the new local health and leisure centre, signed up without having seen what the place looks like, and started to exercise. I did it as if I had been remote controlled. I walked down the hill like a zombie that has smelled fresh human flesh.

Me on day 1! 

I am still amazed about it, as for the last 15 years I avoided the gym and any kind of physical exhaustion like the plague. Suddenly this! Now, 4 weeks after, I am quite happy about it and I like going there. I don't overdo it, I don't think I ever will; looking like Arnold has never been on my to do list, but a little bit of exercise is actually quite nice. 

Some of those epiphanies can be triggered, some probably come completely out of the blue. It must be similar to dreams; many stem from activities and occurrences that took place in our active lives, others come from deep within our subconsciousness. 

Epiphany moments in a business context are rare. I can imagine entrepreneurs probably have them when coming up with an idea and then take action. The role of a coach is to pave the way for them to happen. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's like with dreams, you can't force anyone to dream something specific. 

Epiphany in Bulgaria, where on 6 January every year men throw themselves into ice-cold water to fetch a cross that has been thrown in by the local priest. My coaching method isn't that drastic...  ;-) 

I have an example where I managed to trigger such an epiphany moment: 

Imagine a factory, break time for the workers is at 11:00 and there is no canteen on site, just a vending machine with sandwiches, chocolates, and the like; and then there is this little van from a local bakery that drives from factory to factory selling warm food, no meals, just warm sandwiches and rolls. For our German speakers, they sold Leberkässemmeln, but I am refraining from explaining this in English. 

Anyway, whenever I walked around the shop floor I heard a siren at 10:15 and most workers left their work place and went to that van to buy their "Leberkässemmeln". Those were kept in aluminium foil to keep them warm in order to bridge over till 11:00. What happened though, in most cases, break started at 10:15 because people wanted to eat their rolls straight away. Production figures plummeted daily during that hour. 

I went to the plant manager and just enquired about that sandwich van and he proudly told me about managing to finally have the van stop at 3 different locations inside the factory so that his workers would not have to leave their work place too early in order to walk all the way to the main gate where the van used to stop in order to be able to buy their "well deserved rolls". 

One morning after sitting over the project goals, which was to raise output by a certain percentage and we were far from the target line, I said to him a little bit after 10:00, "I need a break, why don't we take a stroll to the coffee machine in the factory and I get us a coffee...?". We went and of course at 10:20 the factory was empty, as everyone was queuing up at the van outside. I said, "It must be break time, nobody is here anymore, the machines are all switched off..."

The sandwich van does not exist anymore and break time starts at 11:00 again. We discussed this issue with the workers' council and came up with a good solution. The plant manager told me after a while: "Roland, I was so embarrassed when you showed me what happened down there without rubbing it in. It was the moment when I knew we really needed to sort the business out and start pushing mountains". 

We did and managed the turnaround and hit the target line. Happy Epiphany! 

That's an epiphany gone wrong!