This speech was given by Jeremy at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Bournemouth on 20 September 2004, proposing a motion supporting the European Constitution.

Some people think that everything that comes from the EU should be welcomed, uncritically.

If a proposal arrives with a Brussels postmark, then it must be good.

Well, I don’t think that. And, fortunately, as a party the Liberal Democrats don’t think that either.

If a proposal from the EU will improve the lives of the citizens of Britain and of Europe – will improve their security, improve their prosperity, will make their lives better – then we support it.

But if it doesn’t – if it’s unnecessary, if it breaks the important Liberal Democrat principle that decisions should be taken as close as possible to the people they affect – then we will reject it.

Of course, in lots of areas, the European Union does a huge amount to improve our lives.

It guarantees our security. War between the different member countries of the EU is now unthinkable. Ours is the first generation in hundreds of years where young men of my age cannot expect to be sent off to fight against young men from other European countries.

And the reason that war is unthinkable is that network of ties that now exists between European countries, through the EU.

The EU underpins our prosperity. Trade with other EU countries, and the European single market, both guarantee millions of British jobs, and provide us with cheaper goods in the shops. Even Margaret Thatcher, one of the architects of the European single market, agreed that being part of the EU makes us all better off.

But if being part of the EU is good for us at this grand level, it also helps us on more everyday things.

Legislation at the European level has a direct impact on the life of every British citizen, whether it’s giving us cleaner beaches, or cleaner air, cheaper telephone calls, or safer cosmetics.

And often we don’t even recognise some of the benefits, as anything to do with the EU.

Millions of us every year go on holiday to other EU countries, made a lot easier by the EU.

If you decide you want to up sticks altogether, and move to another EU country, you can do that. If you’re a business person, and want to set up a business somewhere else in the EU, you can do that.

Being part of the EU, and playing an active role in it, is good for Britain, and it’s good for you and me.

It’s now estimated that perhaps 50% of all legislation in this country now originates at the European level.

Now if you’d suggested that 10 or 20 years ago to an anti-European, they would have predicted the end of Britain, and the end of the world as we know it. ‘The end of a thousand years of British history’, perhaps.

Well it’s true now, and Britain’s still here, you’re still here, and the last time I looked the House of Commons was still there. You can still buy warm beer in the bar of the conference hotel, and I dare say that somewhere out there there are still spinsters cycling to Evensong.

But if we recognise the benefits of the EU, we also recognise its failings.

Last week’s edition of Lib Dem News contained a letter from a reader asking why – if we have some criticisms about the EU – we don’t say so.

Well, let me read just a few sentences from the party’s last policy paper on Europe, agreed by conference in Spring last year.

‘To safeguard and extend the achievements of the EU, reform is imperative.’

‘A single Constitution would provide a clearer, more intelligible overview of how the Union operates.’

And we also said what we’d like to see in the Constitution:

‘Whenever the Council of the Union is acting in a legislative capacity, it should do so in public.’

‘We propose to enhance the power of the European Parliament in scrutiny.’

‘A great majority of EU citizens want the EU to play a more effective role on the world stage.’

‘We favour the creation of a single institutional framework, abolishing the confusing and opaque pillar system currently in place.’

Well, good news, Conference.

Not only have we got a Constitution for the EU, as the Liberal Democrats demanded, but it does those things we asked for.

The Council of the EU will meet in public when passing legislation.

The elected and democratically accountable European Parliament will have more power to scrutinise.

The EU will have more ability to take effective action on the world stage.

And the internal working procedures of the EU will be a lot simpler and more transparent.

The European Constitution is certainly not perfect. But it meets the key Liberal Democrat demands, and we should all be proud of that.

The Constitution will bring a better EU, for all 25 member countries, and for Britain.

Unless.

Unless, conference, the British people vote to reject it, in the referendum.

Now, exactly what would happen if Britain voted no in the Referendum, and everyone else voted yes, is not clear. There are learned academic papers published debating exactly want the consequences would be, which I can point you to if you’re really that interested.

But what I can tell you, is this.

The other 24 countries would not simply turn round and say “Oh, OK, fair enough, we’ll drop the whole idea. We’ve all agreed some great steps forward that we all want, but if you’re not happy, we’ll cancel the whole project.”

No, one thing that’s very clear is that the rest of the EU would go on without is.

We would exclude ourselves from the mainstream of the EU.

The key decisions in Europe would be taken by the French and the German governments, perhaps also with the Polish, the Spanish and the Italians. The British government wouldn’t be invited.

The government of Slovakia would have more input into the direction of the EU than the government of Britain.

I don’t want that, and I hope you don’t either.

So we need to make sure we win a yes vote in the referendum.

And how do we go about getting that?

Well, I tell you one thing: it’s not by sitting around, doing nothing.

We’ll achieve a yes vote only by going out there and campaigning for it. Explaining to the British people why a yes vote is important, and why it’s in all our interests.

And if we don’t do it, then no-one else will.

The Labour government gave up any claim for us to trust it to make the case for Europe a long time ago.

And the Tories – well, the Tories: they’re obviously not going to campaign for a yes vote, and will be seeing their big opportunity to rescue themselves, in winning a ‘no’ vote.

If you talk to Tories privately nowadays, they think there’s only one thing that can save them from complete oblivion – a vote ‘no’ in the European referendum.

And I don’t know about you, fellow representatives, but I’ve been waiting for the end of the Tory party for too long to throw them a lifeline now.

So we need to go out and campaign, colleagues. And we need to do it now.

The Lib Dem European Group has put together our campaigning materials – leaflets, pamphlets, briefings. Please come to our stall and collect them.

What we need now, colleagues, is your help, your support, to help achieve a yes vote.

Now I know what many of you are thinking. ‘Doesn’t he realise there’s a general election next year? We’d be mad to talk about Europe before that. Maybe I’ll do something next year, when the General Election’s out of the way.’

But conference we do have to get our message across about Europe before the election.

Because – like it or not – Europe is now on the agenda for the next few months.

UKIP are going to make very sure of that.

And if they don’t, then the signature of the Constitution in Rome on 29 October, and the Parliamentary process of ratification, probably in December or January, will make sure that it is.

And if we don’t get across our positive message about Europe, then others will be putting across our views for us. And I know which I’d rather.

The truth is, conference, we’d be made not to talk about Europe over the next few months.

Conference, this motion, and the European Constitution, matters.

We asked for it, and we’ve got it.

It will make Europe, and Britain, a better place.

If we are not to exclude ourselves from Europe, we need a yes vote in the referendum.

And as so often in the last 50 years, the duty to make the case for Europe falls on the Liberal Democrats.

The task is one for each and every one of us.