The EU is Great, and The Single Market is Awesome
There, I've said it. The EU is great and a fantastic force for peace and people's good, and the Single Market is an amazing innovation for which our country, as it's main creator, should be proud. I'm not saying either is perfect, however they are so good that most people won't realise how much they do for us until we lose them.
Many great people have written articles explaining reasons why leaving the EU and Single market will hurt us, however this is an attempt to knit things together, to help both sides understand why we're so lucky to be in the EU. Whenever I make a point I'll be doing my best to summarise and link out to something which provides the detail and evidence that is needed to understand the issues.
My key points are:
- Law-making in the EU is democratic, and possibly more so than in our UK
- EU agencies (such as the European Medicine Agency) will cost the UK more to replicate than we could save by leaving
- As one of the more powerful countries of the EU we've successfully used it to our advantage
- Free trade is a poor relation to trade agreements that recognise standards
- The Single Market is better than a free trade agreement can ever be
- Leaving the Single Market and customs union will hurt us, our business, and take money away from schools and hospitals
Law-making in the EU is democratic, and possibly more so than in our UK
One of the big lies from Leave campaigners is that the EU is undemocratic. When talking to various people who've claimed this I've asked them if they know how laws are proposed and passed in the UK and they never know, and they don't know, or in other words they've just been fed a soundbite which meets with their prejudice and are repeating it without understanding anything about law-making.
- Suggestions for new EU laws can come from anywhere, including national governments, the European Parliament, or campaigners
- These suggestions are written up by the EU commission, who are civil servants who are picked by the democratically elected governments within the EU
- Proposals can only become laws if agreed by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers
- The European Parliament is made up of MEPs who were directly elected by us, the people of the EU (see here for our 2014 elections)
- The Council of Ministers is made up of ministers of the democratically elected governments of the EU
- Our country has won 95% of the time in the Council or Ministers
- If our elected representatives are not happy to approve laws, there is nothing the Commission can do.