Valid arguments for EU membership?

Question

I see people here say that EU membership is not a risk to england, and one of the arugments advanced is that by being on the inside england can dominate the european superstate and make it what we want.

Does anyone really support this argument? It seems to have two failings

Firstly why should the rest of europe listen to us rather than any other member (or themselves).

Secondly - why should I want to railroad others into my way of thinking? if they want to do things differently thats just fine by me -- in return I expect to be alowed to do things differently to them.

Answer 1

Germany and France do not have a history of "Listening to the English".

I can personally tell you that this is true in the work environment , at least through yesterday.

A millenium of distrust based on actual events is not going to change in a few decades.

"why should I want to railroad others into my way of thinking?"

Germany and France (and Italy, Spain and Portugal) would benefit from Anglo-Saxon ideas and values.

"if England becomes part of the EU "

BECOMES?  They entered 35 years ago.

Answer 2

First of all, lets have this clear: The UK is already part of the EU, just not part of the €Euro area.

Im gonna be brief- EU membership is an asset to the UK, but they have to play it right, as they are doing. The UK has so many treaty opt-outs that it already secures many of the benefits with fewer of the sovereignty losses.

The UK is already trying to make the EU its way. Unlike France, which seeks more vertical expansion of the EU (furthering integration) the UK seeks more horizontal expansion (EU enlargement with a slower pace of integration)

Foreign Minister David Miliband even suggested expanding the EU into N. Africa.

Finally Britain, like the rest of Europe, realizes that to have an impact in the world, it has to join up with its European neighbors. This is why they joined the EU in the first place.

Britain just doubts that a high degree of integration is beneficial or necessary. It does not want a superstate.

Ok, so it wasn't too brief ;) but there you go.

Answer 3

On your first point, they won't. The Lisbon Constitution has shifted the voting system from each country having a set number of votes to being based on population. This renders Germany the most powerful EUSSR nation, and if Turkey joins, their massive population would effectively hand them the lions share of power.

An excellent site I found that gives many articles about the loss of 'member states' sovereignty is http://www.brusselsjournal.com/ anyone who wants to read more about the EUSSR should definitely check it out.

Then, if any of you are Brits like myself, I highly recommend you visit the BNP's website, http://www.bnp.org.uk/ and read their manifesto. I hope you will find that the media's representation (what little there is) of them is entirely wrong. We are not n**i's, nor Fascist's, and at our meeting (if Unite Against Freedom doesn't bus people in from all over England to stop them again) you will see more tweed than Doc Martins and skin heads.

If nothing else, take the time to read the news that is published, and remember that the rioting fascist BNP of the early 90's is dead thanks to Nick Griffin.

Answer 4

No it a load of old tosh! We shall be well and truly eaten by Eurozilla lets make NO mistake about it! The Constitution is designed to strip Britain, more so England of all her power ,total and utter destruction. The Constitution directly threatens the Sovereignty of the British Parliament.  For the first time in our history it places our Parliament under an explicit obligation to foreign institutions.(Franco/German Alliance)  Worse still it contains its own amending procedure allowing further power transfers to Brussels WITHOUT LIMIT, regardless of what Brown say's about no more transfer,its an "AMENDING" treaty, Brussels can "amend" whatever/whenever they like!.  If this Constitution is ratified, it is the last time that Parliament or the British people will have a say on new power grabs by Brussels.  In future, they will take place behind closed doors in the Council of Ministers in Brussels, and Westminster will be powerless to stop them.England being on the "inside" is totally irrelevant...

Answer 5

European Union Membership - The Cons

All of the reasons listed by the others who answered this question...and then some.

European Union Membership - The Benefits

The Single (or “Internal”) Market is the result of the EU’s policies on trade, industry, employment and consumer affairs. Since its launch on 1st January 1993, the Single Market has brought major benefits to businesses, consumers and employees alike. Some of the changes have been very noticeable - border controls have been abolished, cutting costs to business and speeding up the physical movement of goods and people across the Union.

Other changes have been less noticeable, but have made a real difference to people’s everyday lives. Standards have been harmonised for hundreds of products, producing a level playing field for manufacturers across the EU, regardless of where they are based. And “mutual recognition” of goods produced in one member of the Single Market by all the others means that if a product is good enough to be sold in one country, it cannot be excluded from sale in another. The overall effect has been to turn the EU into a “domestic” market for all citizens.

The EU is the world's largest international single market. Following the expansion of the EU on 1st May 2004, the Single Market now includes the 25 Member States and also the three European Free Economic Area countries - Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. Its population numbers around 460 million people – a bigger trading area than the US and Japan combined.

Single Market Achievements

In 2003, the Commission published an assessment of achievements during the first ten years of the Internal Market. According to European Commission statistics, in broad terms, the Single Market project has meant:

EU Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2002 was 1.8% higher (€164.5 billion) [£110 billion] than it would have been without the Single Market.

Over ten years, the Single Market has boosted the EU’s GDP by €877 billion [£588 billion]. This represents €5,700 [£3,819] of extra income per household.

EU Employment has grown (1992-2002) by 1.46% (an extra 2.5 million jobs) thanks to the Internal Market. Up to 3 million British jobs are linked to exports to the EU, around ten percent of the total workforce.

Intra-EU trade has increased as a percentage of GDP from less than 25% in 1993 to 35% in 2005

Foreign direct investment in the Single Market has risen from €23 billion [£15.4 billion] in 1992 to €159 billion [ £106.5 billion] in 2005.

60 Million customs clearance documents per year no longer need to be completed, cutting bureaucracy and reducing costs and delivery times.

But it’s not just at the national level that we can see evidence of the Single Market making a real difference – evidence of the benefits for business, individual consumers and employees is also clear.

Greater competition

Much has been done to eliminate anti-competitive practices since 1993 – all thanks to the single market. The EU has been able to tackle many anti-competitive practices such as cartels, monopolies, and excessive and unnecessary regulation. For example:

An investigation into price fixing in the UK for replica football kits resulted in large price reductions and wider consumer choice;

Deregulation in the UK retail opticians sector, allowing entry and advertising, saw a significant rise in the number of new players in the market, improved product quality and consumer choice;

The price of books has fallen, thanks to the ending of the Net Book Agreement. Indeed the quantity of books and number of titles published increased, despite fears to the contrary.

Hope this answer was helpful...Happy New Year....

Answer 6

Euro-sceptics barely understand what the EU entails.

Every single Country in Europe has a veto. And that veto will cancel EVERYTHING else out. To me thats a pretty big reason why we should be in Europe.

If we don't like something we can veto it and thats the end of it.

Holland vetoed the first EU constitution and so it stopped dead.

Blair made VERY good alliances within Europe, that ensured whenever there were votes we always had Countries who would support us. Although its not what Europe should be, to Europhobes theres proof right there that Britain isn't vulnerable.

Answer 7

i don't know of any valid arguments for it. the ones I've seen make it clearer and clearer that we need to get out. the only ones who say otherwise are gaining financially from it big time.

Answer 8

There you go...if England becomes part of the EU they will not be dominating & making it what England wants. They will be one  vote & one voice.

Answer 9

had you read the treaty there is a part that state the national veto will be removed.

i have the latest on it right in front of me now.. the EU  is and will be a communist state once it has all it wants.  all of you  who want to lay down and loose your identity should just move to Europe and be what they are Communist n**i fascist sheep.

i mean  no offence to anyone . but i will not give up sovereignty with out a fight  the Irish could teach a few people about national pride. so can we Scots