The European Union - Why we Should Stay

The European Union was established in 1952 by the Treaty of Paris as the European Coal and Steel Community. It started off with only six nations; Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. Since then it has grown to include 27 of Europe’s 47 nations. There has never been a war between the EU nations since its foundation.

What the EU hopes to achieve is greater prosperity for Europe and more integration between member states. So why are so many Britons trying to get us to leave it?

Well they do not agree with losing some sovereignty to EU institutions, many believe that we should leave the EU but remain within the common market. This sounds like a good idea right? Wrong. Many in UKIP and the Conservative Party wish to copy Norway or Switzerland, in Europe for the economics, out for the politics. Yet this is not entirely true, 75% of resolutions passed by the European parliament have had to be implemented by Norway and Switzerland. So they have no say over EU policy, yet they have to obey it? That sounds like a pretty horrendous deal to me, considering the UK is one of the “big four”, the four nations that have the most votes in the Council of the European Union. As we are a very populous nation in Europe, we hold great influence and power in the chamber. If we were to give up our voting rights, but still have to implement most EU policy it would be disastrous for ourselves!

I feel that many of the UKIP and Conservatives that believe in leaving the EU are stuck in Empire mentality. They think we’d get on fine on our own outside of Europe, they want to return to the century of splendid isolation in which Britain largely ignored the European continent. But in the 19^th century, we had a vast and growing Empire. We were the world’s only-ever hyper power and the largest navy. Now the situation is very different, we are a declining power in the world, if we are to continue to exert influence on the global scale we must be part of something. The EU is the perfect institution to be part of; Europe is our closest neighbour and the world’s largest economy. If we are to move forward, we must recognise that we cannot move alone anymore, we have to ally ourselves with Europe.