“I have never understood why public opinion about European ideas should be taken into account.” Attributed to Raymond Barre, former French premier and European commissioner For us this quotation accurately, honestly and succinctly characterises both the original and the current attitudes that underpin the whole European Union project. From the Home page we discuss in … More Why Not Reform the EU?
A charming, thoughtful and well-balanced post on the subject of the ‘Brexit’ referendum, following up an earlier post by the same author, can be found here: https://theweeflea.com/2016/05/04/the-eu-referendum-rushed-ill-thought-out-and-extreme/ Recommended reading for those who haven’t made up their minds, and indeed for those who have.
The EU frequently refers to itself as if it were all of Europe. Wider membership of the Council of Europe is one challenge to this claim. At a debate in Rome on 5th April Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, had this to say, “Too many politicians are listening exclusively to their national opinion. … More Europe versus EU
We don’t want to disengage from Europe or reject partnership with our neighbours. However, we believe that the EU’s flaws are so serious that Britain should leave. We can see that the reforms required are fundamental and can only be achieved by a new treaty that replaces existing treaties. The EU will not allow such … More The Wrong Kind of Union
But they’ve made it very clear they’ve got no room for (voters). The Small Faces hit song, 1968 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QQdAdneMPQ) Sometimes they can be annoying but generally we like our neighbours. The variety of culture, language, geography and climate we enjoy in Europe is exciting. Unfortunately the EU has the wrong take on neighbourliness, it’s … More Wouldn’t it be nice to get on with my neighbours?
The recent rise in membership of far-right (even neo-Nazi) political parties across the EU has much to do with its policy of taking, but never ceding, powers that advance the cause of a unitary state. The Schengen open borders agreement has facilitated an uncontrollable spread of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa. Pragmatism … More Resurgent Right
Nick Clegg, John Major, Emma Thompson and other Europhiles believe we shouldn’t be turning in on ourselves by leaving the partnership with our nearest neighbours. However, it has been said by an insider (Anonymous – on the radio) that our diplomats are almost totally absorbed in intra-EU issues with little brainpower left over to engage with … More Neighbours
In democratic systems disappointing leaders are replaced, often with their opposites. Errors are thereby corrected, typically over-corrected, and so the system zigzags forward, never attaining perfection because the process is too coarse and anyway the goalposts move as the world changes. By contrast, without elections but with an ideology frozen in a bygone age … More Democracy versus Ideology
Lies, damned lies and hardly any statistics! A response to the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign leaflet. “Over 3 million UK jobs are linked to our exports to the EU.” What do they mean by “linked”? Will there be 3 million additional unemployed if we leave the EU (or anything like that)? This is typical … More Britain Strangled in Europe
In this essay we shall sometimes refer to the EU as the Project to reflect the fact that it is an uncompleted process. We shan’t pretend that we present a balanced view: we omit much that is good about the EU, mainly because we are unaware of much that is good about the EU; that … More Introduction
This EU Won't Work 