SO now that we’ve had the seal of approval from the IMF, the OECD and just about every other organisation with an acronym, is it time for Jersey to join the EU on favourable terms?

OK, there’s no need to get hot and bothered about it. I only asked. The problem with a subject like the EU is that people have very entrenched views which are sometimes totally misguided and often based more on sentiment than logic.

In the case of Jersey’s relationship with the EU, we’ve done very nicely, thank you, under the special arrangements negotiated when the UK joined the original EEC.

So why upset such a favourable position? One possible reason is that it’s no longer as favourable as it was. Quite a lot has changed since the 1970s, not least the impact of globalisation, the virtual demise of Jersey’s agricultural industry, which might now actually benefit from EU membership, and the overriding need to ensure our principle industry meets the latest international standards, which are increasingly being set by the EU.

It’s also possible to argue that Jersey now suffers from all of the disadvantages of being outside the biggest market in the world, which many of us can see from our bedroom windows, while our relative isolation no longer provides many advantages.

That means we have to put in a lot of work to meet the standards imposed by others without actually deriving much benefit.

Of course we are not legally obliged to adopt EU standards, but we do so voluntarily because we don’t really have much of a choice if we want to be considered good global citizens.

In practical terms, if we don’t match up to what the EU wants, we are excluded from their markets and it’s very difficult to change things from the outside. All we can hope to do is pick up the occasional crumb that comes our way, without having any say in the matter.

So my conclusion is that there could be one very good reason for considering membership of the EU, and it’s the same reason that prompts virtually every country from here to the edge of Asia to try to become a member. That is that it could be in our best economic interests to do so.

Now I don’t know if this is the case. Do you? Do our beloved leaders know? No, and they are not bothering to find out.

It’s one of those little subjects that many people, particularly States members, would probably prefer to ignore. But, unfortunately, it’s a pretty important subject and one that is going to gain even more importance as we try to develop our own ‘international personality’.
It’s perfectly understandable that politicians don’t want to open this particular can of worms. The implications of considering a new relationship with the EU are enormous.

To begin with, there’s the little local difficulty of not being a country. So under the current arrangements we couldn’t join even if we wanted to.

That, of course, raises the question of our position in relation to the mother country and what the Bailiff of Guernsey called in a recent speech, ‘our peculiar constitutional relationship with the UK’.

That’s an issue that’s going to raise its head in any case, whether or not we are considering our position in relation to the EU. More and more we’re going to have to assess our relationship with the UK as we take more control of our own destiny as a leading international finance centre.

Indeed, Guernsey’s Bailiff was quite outspoken on the subject in his recent speech at the Channel Islands Stock Exchange business summit.

In essence, he said that the islands (he included Jersey as well as Guernsey) were virtually totally independent and do not rely on the UK for much. We also have nothing to learn from the UK in terms of good government, prudential borrowing or looking after our citizens.

He acknowledged that ‘it is said’ that the UK Government, acting on behalf of the Crown, is responsible for good government in the islands. But nobody has ever bothered to interpret what that means, he said.

So perhaps it’s time someone did. Then, of course, if we were to contemplate EU membership, it would be inconceivable to do so without at least talking about it to our cousins in Guernsey. That raises other interesting and far-reaching possibilities.

So it’s a big issue, and a very complicated one, but those are not excuses for ducking the question. It certainly wouldn’t be a good idea to wait until we’re forced to consider our options.

As Guernsey’s Bailiff said, the islands have successfully engaged with first the Crown and then the UK Government to secure our position over many centuries. Now that engagement has to be extended to Europe, he said.

‘I don’t really see good government as an issue,’ he said. ‘What I do see is a need for constructive engagement and a continuing need for constructive engagement, and it’s now more acutely necessary than ever before to constructively engage with the EU and with Brussels.’

Whether engagement includes the possibility of EU membership, the Bailiff didn’t say, but it’s obviously one of a whole range of options facing the islands.

Whether it’s a viable or desirable option requires careful thought and analysis. Both of which are rather lacking at the moment.

Peter Body is editor of Business Brief magazine.