The leaders of the EU continue with their plans to turn the project into a supra-national government. Our evidence comes from comments in an interview with Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, and Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament.
Many senior eurocrats are recycled national politicians. Often they have been rejected by their electorates and then selected for plum jobs in the EU hierarchy. There is no reason to believe that they can be more effective when unaccountable than they were when they had to account to their voters.
We hope the EU will change radically (i.e. at root) and that we can engage with it harmoniously and productively; Brexit may be the trigger that starts the process.
“What this country needs is a benign dictatorship”
Senior British judges are starting to resist the overweening pressure from the EU’s courts to impose a different tradition of law on the UK and bulldoze us into submission. The judges expose a major flaw in the EU, which will contribute to its eventual collapse.
A rosy view of the future of the EU from the Economist, with counter arguments from us. Will demands for referendums to leave the EU spread? Is the EU reformable? Is the push towards greater integration reversing or simply slowing? These questions are briefly covered in this post.
An excellent, if sobering, article from the international business editor of the Daily Telegraph. His reasons for voting Leave balanced with a clear outline of the risks involved.
A dismal slanging match from on high. Euroscepticism across Europe is high and growing. This seriously weakens the case to Remain but is not being addressed.
The EU is characterised by overweening ambition and underwhelming achievement. The combination presents a risk to Britain if we remain in the EU.
In June 2015 the presidents of the five major divisions of the European Union, led by Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, published their report, titled Completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union. In these three consecutive posts we take a detailed and critical look into the report – the ‘5PR’ as we shall call it for short.
The Dutch are increasingly fed up with the EU, largely because of its failures. If the EU mandarins can’t keep even the steady Dutch on the right page, what future has it?
As we get closer to the vote, both economics and politics are wobbling and the risks and uncertainties of staying in the EU are becoming increasingly evident.
The EU’s attempts to resolve the migration crisis have yielded little so far, except a dirty deal with Turkey, which may or may not happen. This crisis will continue.
This post links to a recent article in the Express, which points up the uncertainties that the Remain case chooses to ignore.
He’s not keen on countries that desert the EU. And his PR skills remain limited.
The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, believes that the EU will be relegated to the second division if the UK leaves. Should we stay just to keep the EU in the premier league? Why is it worth so little without (or with?) Britain?
The original motivation for setting up the EU is no longer pressing. Now it is believed that economic, political and social development can only be achieved from the top down. In the longer term the EU may collapse under the weight of its internal inconsistencies.
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 need cooperative structures that can evolve to meet new challenges as they arise, not static ideologies.
The first signs of disruption may be evident in the rise of far-right parties in several European countries. There is also much euro-scepticism in the centre of politics.
Right-wing parties are currently minorities but no longer insubstantial, even in famously-tolerant Sweden.
This EU Won't Work 