It is a beautiful summer day on the Raekoja Plats in the old town of Tallinn. I am nursing a cold beer in the August sunshine as I sit in the square. The mediaeval buildings give an impression of timeless peace, only slightly marred by the enormous, booming hoards of tourists echoing across the open space. I am in Estonia on a regular visit, but this time, I am also enjoying the wedding of some friends of mine- she Estonian, he German.
Estonia is, in many ways the most Liberal country in Europe. Last night I had dinner with a variety of senior members of the Estonian diplomatic service, listening to the gossip of doings in London, or Paris or Brussels. Estonia had to impose over 1000 new tarrifs in order to join the European Union, but by and large they feel that they got the good end of the bargain. Estonia is a low tax, free market country, with a very low regulatory footprint. Once again I note that what we conventionally call the nosiness of “Brussels” is in fact the result of our own civil service. Estonia is a close friend of Britain, both within the European Union and in NATO. Estonians are grateful for the support of the UK in many issues- including the tricky relationship with an increasingly authoritarian Russia. However, for the first time I sense frustration with London: “We can not just look at the EU as a free trade area alone”; “Have the Brits EVER successfully negotiated with China on their own? Look at the Hong Kong fiasco”.
The open call by a British Conservative MEP for Britain to leave the European Union is given short shrift- “Norway still has to ENACT EU legislation, without being able to shape it, so why would the UK give up its rights to shape the EU?”. Remember that issues of sovereignty are, if anything, even more precious to the Estonians who had their freedoms denied to them for so long. The UK is seen, even by its friends, as aloof. Indeed with Estonians dead in Iraq, there is a nagging worry- have these new EU states backed an unreliable horse? The UK needs to reasssure our friends – yet I am sure that the current government wants to- seeing these friends as fairly insignificant. Blair, is in danger of putting all his eggs in George Bush’s basket- and, as he so often tells us, there is no plan B.
The Estonian economy is rocketing- growth has accelerated again, and on current trends the Estonians will be wealthier than Germany in not much more than a decade. The tourists are only adding to the spectacular story of Estonian recovery. Flat taxes, light regulation, efficient government. We have a lot to learn, I reflect, downing the last of my beer.
