Thus we have the Daily Mail Synon blog remind its readers that “The college is where they take in wanna-be eurocrats and put them through a kind of ideological kidney dialysis. They pump all their national blood out, cleanse it of national sentiments, and pump it back in filled with pure EU nationalism (‘Europe is my country’).” 

Tony Barber in the FT wrote “Clegg studied at the College of Europe in Bruges, an institution geared to producing graduates with enthusiasm for EU integration. He speaks Dutch, French, German and Spanish, making him as proficient a linguist as such dedicated Europeans as Herman Van Rompuy, the EU’s full-time president.” 

The ever-measured Dan Hannan noted that “Nick Clegg is recognised by Eurocrats as One Of Us. A graduate of the College of Europe in Bruges, he went on to work in the European Commission before being elected to the European Parliament. In each of those three institutions, he was taught the them-and-us elitism that is the hallmark of the Eurocrat: the belief that voters are simple, often bigoted, souls, who require guidance from experts.”

This is all something of a surprise to me and makes me wonder whether there are perhaps two Colleges of Europe in Bruges, vast metropole that it is.

My time at the College in the mid-1990s was characterised not by any indoctrination, but by a rather conventional Masters programme, with added Belgian beer.  The closest anyone got to promoting Europe was standing up for the Ode to Joy now and again at official events, but I fail to see how that translates into a love for the EU or a dislike for one’s own country.

“Ah, the thin end of the wedge”, they cry! Hardly.  The students who attend the College are all academically very able and part of that is having one’s own mind: In the years I studied and worked there, I never once encountered a person who was out to “build Europe” nor anyone whose views on European integration were majorly changed by the experience.  Those who attend the College are a self-selecting group, so if they are pro-European, then that would predate the College and any “ideological dialysis”.  My own experience and improved knowledge made me more aware of the complexity of the EU and the ways in which it could adversely affect people, hence a decade’s work since researching euroscepticism (something I study not to help destroy it, but to understand it, because it is an important phenomenon).

The College is not an ideological institution, much less somewhere that turns out Euro-federalists, hell-bent on crushing those who dare stand in the way of the EU. Its USP is that it gives people a chance to meet others from many different countries (and not just European ones) and see that they have some things in common, but as a good German friend of mine noted “at the College you spend six months breaking down your stereotypes of other nationalities, then six months putting them all back in place.”

Then again, I don’t speak Spanish and I don’t the words to “Ode to Joy”, so that must be what’s holding me back…

However, that’s largely neither here nor there, since the matter in hand is the position of the British Conservative Party.  All summer, I’ve been asked about “whether Cameron will really hold a referendum” (it was a long, slow summer).  My position has always been that the referendum promise had very little to do with Lisbon and very much to do with party management.  For Cameron, a referendum was a means of demonstrating his credentials to the party faithful in a largely risk-free way: if the treaty fell (to the Irish or Czechs or Poles), then all for the good (since he wouldn’t have been responsible); if it was ratified and in force (as it now is), then he can (and has) say that it can’t be unpicked.  At the time (2007), the first option looked the more likely.

However, as we have swung toward the second option, so Cameron has resisted all calls to hold a vote anyway.  Consider his position: once elected, he has a large pile of policies to put in place, of which the EU is only a very small part.  Why spend time and effort organising a referendum (that would almost certainly be won) when there are plenty of other things that voters care about a lot more? 

Moreover, what could be done with such a result?  Recently, the sceptics in the party say this could be a mandate to secure opt-outs, but going back to the first point, the EU’s leaders are not going to be hurrying back to the negotiating table any time soon.  In addition, the bad will that a referendum would generate in Paris and Berlin (where Cameron is hardly flavour of the month) would make any negotiation deeply problematic.  And given Washington’s current approach to Europe, more divisions aren’t going to help matters in the ’special relationship’.

So Cameron resists, and will resist.  When he announces his new policy later today, one would imagine that he’ll take a cautious line.  My guess would be a commitment to a referendum on all future treaty amendments and an attempt to limit or repartriate powers in some areas.  However, I cannot see him holding any referendum, either on Lisbon or on membership.

EDIT: 1645GMT – and there you go (BBC): a commitment to future referenda and talking tough on ‘demanding back powers’.  So, even less than I guessed.  Let’s be optimistic and assume that Cameron will learn from this experience and think about the consequences of European policy in the years to come.  Although it won’t make party management any easier.

The first was for the introductory session, to explain some basic concepts through the medium of t-shirts.  Students, especially those with no prior knowledge, can struggle with the difference between supranationalism and intergovernmentalism and their exposition in the EU’s institutions. This brief (20-30 minute) exercise allows for a visualisation of these concepts in a more memorable way.  Fortunately, I have a mother who lives near a Primark that had the 30 XXL t-shirts that I needed (although you can do it with fewer), so that side wasn’t a problem: likewise, the students wear the t-shirts over their clothes for a short period of time, so even the most unwashed of them isn’t going to necessitate a trip to the laundrette.   The JPG below shows how it works:

I’ve used this with both university and school-age students and I found it a good way into the subject.

This week was a historical overview.  Rather than try to cram in as much history as possible into my time slot, I have in recent years approached this in a more thematic way.  Earlier in the year, I was at a conference run by SCEPTrE, where Colin Beard was presenting on “Walk the Talk”, a kinesthetic model.  Essentially, it translate student’s knowledge and perceptions into a physical display, through which they can walk and see new linkages.  Again, the JPG below shows how I did it:

Again, this worked well in the class, although I think that asking for more specialised preparation on the different topics would have added to it more.  Colin uses this more iteratively, using previous year’s cards as a basis from much to build in the following year.  Alternatively, one could simply come back to to this exercise at the end of a module, to help students see how their understanding and conceptulisation has come on.

So, two ideas, both broadly successful, if requiring some fore-thought.  Now to think about activities that might enliven the institutional architecture (and yes, I have thought of a simulation, but I currently have a few too many of those in my life at this moment).

Essentially, you can take this is one of three ways:

1) The use of a dinosaur with a small brain, over-accumulation of spikes and a soft belly, coupled to my interest in euroscepticism, might make you think this betrays some underlying view of the EU and its future.  This would be interesting, but wrong.

2) The use of a dinosaur that represents the end-point of millions of years of evolution, using its fearsome armoury only in self-defence, coupled to my interest in the EU as a whole, might make you think this betrays a completely different view of the EU and its future.  This would also be interesting, but also wrong.

3) My 4yr old is very into dinosaurs, I wanted a different name for this blog and this was my favourite dinosaur starting with EU- (Eustreptospondylus being too hard to spell).  This would be correct.

So, we’ve established the power of small children, the possibility of wildly different views on the EU, and my inability to colour in a dinosaur.  I hope to explore at least of these in much more depth.

And we’ll not end start to get into the picture of the cake…