St.

Gallen Model United Nations

St. Gallen, Switzerland
15th – 18th of November 2018

POSITION PAPER
Committee: European Council

Topic(s): Addressing nationalism and anti-EU sentiment within EU

member states / The Eastern partnership and the role of the EU in the
Caucasus

Country: United Kingdom

University: M.S.O.I. Torino

Name of Delegate: Diletta Muccilli

Topic A:
Rising Euroscepticism poses an existential threat to the European Union.
Problems as the declining legitimacy of the European institutions, the outcome of
the financial crisis, or the collapse of recognised political parties will continue to
affect the direction of European politics for decades to come if the European
Council does not take action now.
As a matter of fact, without an understanding of EU’s broader structural and
institutional problems, we cannot hope to comprehend what has happened in the
United Kingdom with Brexit.
Historically, our country has been a leading critic of European integration, since
it firmly believes that the creation of the European Union has obliged member
states to transfer too much national sovereignty to supranational institutions. And
by appealing to Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, we have decided to re-establish
our nation as a truly independent one. The benefits United Kingdom has obtained
until now concerning security, trade, consumer goods, and budget are tremendous,
and it expects to get even more when the whole process finishes.
However, we want to make the point that the United Kingdoms is leaving the EU
but not Europe. We are leaving just a complex institutional relationship with lots
of entanglements to return to traditional relations between individual states. And
to protect these relations, the United Kingdom will like to encourage all of its
neighbour states to trade off further integration: in return for greater powers for
the EU in policy areas where supranational control would be most beneficial, the
EU would devolve power to member states in other policy areas, in particular
where there is domestic controversy.
The United Kingdom knows it is not the only country having so little faith in the
European institutions. For this reason, this process of decentralisation should
expand throughout the years, until each European state finally regains its national
sovereignty and we, together, will finally be able to put an end to the present
underestimation of national powers.

Topic B:
The Eastern Partnership, with its attention to the future wealth of Eastern Europe,
should be at the top of our agenda. Eastern partners have already made significant
political and economic reforms, which will benefit their citizens, but as they
continue to grow, they need to keep to implement further changes. We shall all be
ready to support partner countries in their efforts to put into effect these reforms.
The United Kingdom believes that there is a huge amount of potential in the
Eastern neighbourhood that still has to be fostered and developed. For this reason,
the United Kingdom will continue to provide financial support to reform taxes
and security in the six partner countries, so that we can finally solve the shared
challenges together.
The Council must be open-eyed about the actions of hostile states like Russia who
threaten the potential growth of the Eastern Neighbourhood and who try to tear
our collective strength apart. The United Kingdom is not ready to let Russia take
over our Eastern neighbours and ruin them forever, so it will continue to highlight
the importance of free-market, democratic values and open and inclusive politics
for the Eastern Partnership countries.
We know we are leaving the European Union, but we believe that a reformed
Europe – and we are not referring just to EU member states –will still care to help
its Eastern neighbours. Economic growth should be prioritised, so that future
benefits could be effectively shared between all of us, and programs as the EU-
Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Programme should be emphasised to
support the cultural and creative sectors’ contribution to sustainable humanitarian
and social development.