Ok, zis time you be Eva Braun and I'll be ze Führer |
This is the kind of pathetic concession that the Tories are talking about when they talk about "repatriation" of powers from the EU. They don't mean doing away with EU competencies or repealing unpopular directives, they mean having a think about keeping opt-outs that we already have.
There is no provision for returning powers from the EU to national governments in the EU Constitution/Lisbon Treaty, powers can only flow one way. There is no political will behind the "repatriation" of powers either in the British government or the EU, nor is there a way of actually doing it. The Tories know this and that's why they refuse to tell us how it would work, why they refuse to demand concessions in exchange for signing treaties, it's why no power has ever been returned from the EU to national governments and why a British government official says that there is no intention of trying.