from the BBC News, Wednesday 18 May:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36314814
Mr Tusk said the EU remained a “firewall” against conflict between European countries, saying the “banal” truth was that “the only alternative for the Union is political chaos, the return to national egoisms, and in consequence, the triumph of anti-democratic tendencies, which can lead to history repeating itself“.
Donald Tusk is the President of the European Council (not to be confused with the Council of Europe: see Europe versus EU). His comment is ironic, given the anti-democratic nature of the EU.
How little has changed over the decades.
From euroknow: http://www.euro-know.org/europages/dictionary/f.html
“Monnet was convinced that a united Europe was essential to peace and could only come about through supranational institutions capable of overriding sovereign democracies… Knowing that supranationalism lacked popular appeal, he developed the ‘Monnet method’ of ‘integration by stealth’, in which unification was advanced policy by policy without the ultimate goal being made clear.”
And an alternative view of Brexit from Deutsche Bank:
Britain’s exit from the European Union would have a “devastating” impact on the continent, relegating Europe to the status of a second-rank world power, a leading investment bank has warned.
“The implications of the UK not being in the EU will be truly devastating for Europe,” said David Folkerts-Landau, chief economist at Deutsche Bank, “If Brexit were to occur, continental Europe will be relegated to second rank status. Europe will become far less important and its impact on foreign policy, within the UN and global decision making, will be diminished.”
While we know that we must be careful with forecasts from economists, this warning suggests that the fear factor pushed by the Remain camp should perhaps be reversed.
This EU Won't Work 