eurealist.co.uk

In my previous post I remarked that I had recently been exchanging views with NM, the exchanges developed to include my challenge to NM assertion that renegotiations of treaties affect the man in the street not a jot (that he’d notice). And he also very much doubts we’ll notice any impact on our day to day existence nce the Lisbon Treaty is ratified.

Of course this is the pro EU line, by downplaying the effects of our membership they believe we little people will not become overly fractious about the ongoing integration.

Mark Leonard the Europhile or perhaps a better term would be Demophobe1. writer Executive Director European Council on Foreign Relations and previously Director of Foreign Policy at the Centre for European Reform (both unmitigated Europhile organisations), explained

Europe’s power is easy to miss. Like an ‘invisible hand’, it operates through the shell of traditional political structures. The British House of Commons, British

law courts, and British civil servants are still here, but they have all become agents of the European Union implementing European law. This is no accident.

By creating common standards that are implemented through national institutions, Europe can take over countries without necessarily becoming a

target for hostility… Europe’s invisibility allows it to spread its influence without provocation.

Leonard made those comments in 2005 so one might wonder why mention it now? the answer is because those words are the foreword to Open Europe latest information pamphlet

The EU and You How the EU affects everyday life in the UK

Open Europe points out that

“The EU now has powerful influence on our everyday lives. But as a result of the way EU legislation operates, it is often not clear to either voters or even journalists when a particular decision or policy originates in the EU.

Domestic legislation often is actually a “shell” for the purpose of implementing

European law. And often, even if EU legislation has not wholly determined a particular decision, EU law has had important influence on policy-makers and officials.”

They could have also made the point that it undermines our democratic traditions by influencing the policies offered to us by our political parties so much so that it hardly makes any difference which party holds power in Westminster. Next time your local MP comes knocking at your door begging for your vote just inquire of them which of their policies do not coincide directly with EU laws.

Back to the pamphlet, it explains so many of the influences the EU policy rules and regulations have on our day to day life that it would have be easer to point to those one or two things the EU does not affect, but that of course is not the point of phamphlet.

Most people would be surprised to learn that the EU affects things as diverse as:

Fortnightly bin collections

Higher household electricity bills

more wind turbines

Soaring water bills

Higher council tax

New Royal Mail pricing rules

Bureaucracy at the bank

High price of energy saving products

Banning vitamins and minerals

Fewer and more expensive fish

Extinction of swathes of vegetable varieties

Creation of Railtrack (yes the conservatives were only following an EU directive)

Transport and motoring

Government’s inability to expel EU criminals from the UK.

Media, sport and entertainment

Abolition of the 192 inquiries service

Higher costs for the NHS

This is to name just a few areas where the EU presently affects our daily lives, and the Lisbon Treaty will effectively pass many more areas of power to the EU.

Demophobe: One who is fearful of the democratic process and democracy in general.

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