The EU suffers from bad press ? It deserves a bad press !

Dave, Swindon, Wiltshire

it is atrajedy that europe cannot throw up someone of enough charisma to inspire its poulation to do a USA and forge one country with a constitution. i for one would love to be a citizen of theUSE - UNTED STATES OF EUROPE which would be a country large and powerful enough to rival that arch swaggerer, the usa

peter codner, devizes, england

The people of Europe do not wish to be governed by " The peoples Republic of Brussels ". They do wish to be in some form of 'Super State'. This is a very hard sell to the Socialist Elite whose Vision is their entire life. Their own smug sanctimony and differential rectitude is very difficult to over come. Have a vote that says only ONE Parliament, not two. Get rid of the CAP and let everyone have cheaper food. Not pandering to a couple of farmers..That would be a start. Never try to do too much at one time, the politicians will run rings about you.!!!!!!!!

Desmond Taylor, Houston, USA Texas

Try taking a leaf out of India which has at least 10 times different languages, culture, customs and traditions. With history of wars more gruesome than in EU, but is thriving as one country.

Khalid Mian, London, UK

The main advantage of the EU is that the legislative mechanism is operated by well-paid professionals whose expertise and competence is accountable and is perhaps more fit for purpose and worthy of trust than elected government members lacking a record of prior high achievement in the world of paid work or successful business.

In the EU there are also degrees of separation from the divergence between promise and performance which can result from electing candidates who need to say what people wish to hear in order initially to secure power.

dr venables preller, Warminster, UK

Thank you for that cristal clear thinking. In a democratic regime, only people's desire can lead to unification, not laws or politics of any kind. Let's be patient, let the majority being able to communicate with a vehicular language. Let's give peace a prolonged opportunity by avoiding an, say, aristocratic minority craving for ruling. (This includes left and right spectrum of political landscape)

garnier, paris, france

"Europe can build a knowledge economy faster............ "The above three opinions are typical of the pro european arguments to justify this new power which is slowly and inexorably taking control of our lives. Looking at Norway's knowledge economy the first statement is patent nonsense. The second is a generalisation which could be argued about forever, and the third smacks of the old colonial superiority mentality which most sane people would wish to avoid like the plague.
Against these nebulus pro arguments most of the anti arguments are concrete and undeniable. I will give two only.
If MPs agree the next EU Budget we shall be paying £115 million a week to Europe. Second, because of Heath's treachery we are saddled with what is universally accepted as the worst fisheries management system in the world. If anything cries out for powers to be delegated to member states, this is it.
Finally a recent survey found the happiest people in the world all belong to small nations.

Robert Johnson, Whalsay, Shetland

I have been working for a European organisation for over 5 years, and over this time I grew more and more sceptical about European organisations. The basic problem that I see is that the top jobs in European organisations are allocated on the principle of trying to keep all countries happy whilst competence and merit have very little relevance. This in turn filters through the whole organisation and engenders a "wrong", wasteful culture very getting things done and dynamism have very little place. I think European organisations should be drastically reduced in size and refocused so as to avoid waste, complacency and the tendency to meddle in areas where things would be better left alone.

mauro boero, The Hague, The Netherlands

The EU is a product of yester-century !

A cosy co-operative born out of the cold war era - a government looking for a country to govern. Problem is many of its reluctant citizens do not care ( or are plain hostile) to its interventionist and expensive activities.

The marriage of socialism and corporatism - coupled by the sneaky way it bypasses the democratic process to impose its will on the people is just the tip of a very large iceberg - an iceberg struggling in the age of global warming !

Elistist politicians (with a public face of caring moderation) have taken their citizens for granted ! Manipulation instead of consultation - stealth rather than transparency. Let the few decide - forget the majority. Afterall , if they get a referendum on any subject they may make the wrong decision !

The failure of the EU auditors to sign off the accounts, red tape,corruption and the gravy train - means Britain is shackled to a corpse !!

Dave, Swindon, Wiltshire

The simple facts are that Europe does work and it works efficiently with a very small administration: "less employees than the BBC",

The criticism that it is poor in communication though is unfair: the fault lies still in the bad press (especially in England). Unfortunately this goes for most things: an up-beat press makes people enthusiastic, whereas a negative press gives people a bandwagon to climb on.

The most stupid thing is when one reads (how irresponsible to even suggest it) that the English should have a referendum on whether to stay in or not.

The Union is a success, let's just be positive and build on that and see ways of improving what we have instead of pretending that an option is to leave would make things better (I wonder for whom?).

Peter GODDARD, LE ROURET, France

Such is the strength of pacts between supply-side interest groups (farmers, big monopolistic industry etc) and government in Europe that they win elections again and again.

Europe is thus risk-averse, protectionist and not does not realise that by freeing up markets its own small businesses could do better and poor nations sell their products into Europe. Then European consumers benefit, poor nations develop. Europe needs to understand globalisation.

Many Europeans even confuse globalisation with capitalism when the real enemy is their governments, who are even as we speak blocking corporate activity to protect "national interests" (supply-side interest groups who win them elections).

Other problems arise as poorer companies aren't allowed to compete. We have to pardon their bad debts and the disenchanted among them resort in their desperation to terrorism. If Europe can't even "globalise" in a non-dysfunctional way within Europe we should start learning Hindi or Chinese.

Simon, Madrid,

Well, it's supposed to be a democracy folks. Take part: 1. Vote. 2. Hold your elected leaders accountable. It all starts at the local preciencts and moves out from there.

Paul Bahre, Granby, CT, USA

1. Many of the negative sentiments about Europe stem in my opinion from the same source; today's Europeans are far more selfish and egocentric than previous generations. The key theme is always 'what's in it for me', never what's in it for the general public.
This leads to nationalistic and chauvinistic reflexes.
2. Of course we need to decide what Europe stands for; but we also urgently need to decide how to simplify and shorten decision making. Having 27 voices at the table is just not workable in a reasonable time frame. Just eliminating the small countries doesn't work either; they are exactly the ones most prepared and active to cooperate. It is usually the large countries that stubbornly refuse to recognize other's interests.

Bill, bristol, UK

Great someone eles who knows what the problem is but has no plan on how to solve it. Yes we are in the EU and No we can't leave the EU, but we have to change it so it works for all of the people in Europe and we need a Government that has some idea on how to do just that, This article was pretty silent on that as is every other article that's written about the EU.

Susan, Barry, S Wales

I have lived in Brussels five years. Still searching for their principles.

Christopher Gillibrand, Brussels in exile, Belgium

I think, actually Alan you will find that people do not agree with the EU in principle as evidenced when Ted Heath (Tony Blair's spiritual forebear) knew he had to con the British people to join. The people narrowly allowed him to get away with his bare-faced lies because they agreed with the principle he said it was for. It was of course called the Common Market then and the name keeps changing to ensure you don't cotton on to what it is really about. The single country called Europe has been the plan of the political elites since it was first thought of before the Second World War (so the idea that it is to stop European wars and was thought up after 1945 is just another lie). The EU is solely for the good of the politicians as is the seat of power in any non-democratic institution. The EU is just the re-invention of the Soviet bloc; we are sleep walking to disaster on the scale of the USSR.

EyeSee, MK,

They can't even get anyone to sign-off their annual finance statements....so corrupt & inept is the EU. Do we really want to belong to a club like this.....?

Phil, Preston,

I don’t know how other European countries treat the subject, but the provision of information on Europe in this country is minimal. As a result I think few people really know what is going on and the level of debate, if you can call it that, is accordingly poor. I am glad you support Europe because it is so clearly to the general advantage of Europeans, and the fact that the institutional arrangements may still be inadequate or inappropriate is no argument against the basic arrangement. More or less all we get in Britain is the politicking. What would be more helpful is detail of the problems that are alleged, but there is that old snag that politicians prefer to keep these to themselves for fear of ‘loss of control’.

Henry Percy, London, UK

Pardon my ignorance, but once a country joins is there a "way out" provision by which it is possible for a dissatisfied country to make a future exit? It seems to me that such a provision is necessary and would go a long way toward mitigating concerns about joining and staying in during times when troublesome issues arise.
It makes so much sense to me for an EU to exist, especially given the creation of trade blocs elsewhere. Movement toward full political integration may be another matter, however.
On the matter of ag subsidies, why should Europeans taxpayers pay for artificially low-cost food for non-European people? We do the same thing here, and it makes no sense, whatsoever.

James, Jacksonville, Illinois U. S.

The people of Europe do not want to be ruled by " The Peoples Republic of Brussels ". This is a very hard sell to the Elite's and their Socialist Vision. It would literally destroy their world

Desmond Taylor, Houston, USA Texas

With 27 members in a system designed for six, the EU has a problem. The EU's institutions are disconnected from EU citizens, who feel disaffected in, it seems, every member state. This allows myths such as the 'bloated superstructure' to develop. Actually the Commission has about 25,000 people, less than many city councils. But not many people know that. It may now be impossible to restore trust.

Both the eurocratic elite and national govts are to blame: indeed, we are relatively fortunate in the UK on having had one vote on the topic. Many countries have never deigned to ask their electorate before pooling their sovereignty.

But the solution is not to leave and rejoin EFTA.:
1. EFTA countries must implement EU law but do not vote on it: see the EEA Agreement 1992.
2. The EFTA countries contribute to the EU budget: €135m in 2005.
3. it is inconceivable that the UK could leave the EU and rejoin EFTA on the terms currently enjoyed by EFTA members.

Jonathan Ward, London,

The greatest opportunity that this continent has had for peace in over 2000 (possibly more) years, the greatest opportunities for economic growth and development, and you fail to take the bull by the horns, wrongly assuming it is a Franco-German machine (nationalistic paranoia, again!), assuming that change isn't possible. I think I might want to live in the US rather than with this lot of negative, defeatist, inflexible and backward thinking euro'septics'. Bring on Leonidas, Plato, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Einstein, Brunel (just a few of the "Europeans" who have had something of an influence on our history. The presumption that everything is better over the pond has led to an insidious sclerosis of European populations. More like the US, less like those dusty old UKIPers.

Jon Kingsbury, Southampton, UK

It surprises me that the accountability issue does nor raise to the top. All the europarlamentarias are apparatchiks, relations between them and ordinary citicens are nil, We cannot name our representative, much less vote for them or dismiss them. The most decisive single action is to elect the europarlamentarias by single seat candidancies.

Manuel Perez Lumbreras, Pamplona, Spain

Tony, Gordon or whoever... ...please give us a referendum and give us the chance to say "No".

WLP, Somerset, UK

How do you slake "democratic thirst" in a desert with no oasis in sight?

Mark Lyndon, London, UK

The EU is in danger, not from alienation of her member states populations, but from boring them. Another constitution hardly inspires belief in a new active century. America, China, India, Brasil and of course Russia are all pushing for new exciting projects. Some involve land reclamation, new national parks or sending men to the moon. Yet we have walked away from the European lead in Space Engineering in the early 1990's. Very boring. An accusation that can be equally placed at the door the UK as well as EU institutions.

Danielrober, London, UK

People in the UK do not agree with the EU but with a european free trade association. At the next general election any mainstream political party that promised a referendum on the basis of our membership would win by a landslide.

John Kane, Reading, UK

I'm not quite sure what 'Europe'/EU does that benefits its citizens. Yes I'm sure it must do something - but as far as I can work out its a bloated superstate structure of commissioners/lawyers/MePs that get paid a truck load of cash with impossible to imaging benefits for no real value. The original idea was a trading block and the free movement of goods - sounds good. It has become a meddling Franco-German superstructure we dont need.

Al, Newcastle,

I think that the difficulty of the situation is that ,on one side, we have no constitution (or an equvalent act) to advance democratic process of paneuropean elections etc., and, on the other, we criticise any definite sign of political unification,federalisation and so on. In effect, this is creating a source of dead-end road (cul-de-sac) for a further development in this very challenging world (natural sources extinction, lack of them in EU !).
The countries such as UK, and recently Czech Republic and my own (Poland) are particularly guilty in contributing to this viscious circle of political demagoguery preventing even a sound discussion about the future of EU.
The guilty are also journalists, who have a tremendous influence, but lack an elementary technical or mathematical expertise to understand any expert report. Politics and shufling money should not be the king, so I hope. for the future of EU.

Jagiellonian University, Krakow

Jozef Spalek, Krakow, Poland

We could start by scrapping the farm budget. Sugar factory workers in Bury St Edmunds should be free to buy local sugar at 86p or Brazilian sugar at 16p. We don't need the taxpayer to influence their choice.

Paul Stanyer, Milton Keynes,

Getting out of the sorry mess is the only real answer. What we are doing alowing the likes Germany and France any say in our lives I really do not know. They are, and will always will be, enemies of England.

D Case, Newquay, UK

We, the UK electorate, were not asked if we wished to join the EU over 30 years ago, we were railroaded in by Edward Heath and the only time we, the electorate, have been directly consulted was in the Wilson referendum over whether we should stay in the Common Market.

d.cheesman, purbeck, UK

For the EU to have an ongoing relevance to people's lives two things have to happen.
Firstly the national governments must become relevant and responsive to people's needs. Right now the lesson for the man in the street is that national govts are neither. In fact they are quite the opposite. Why desire more of the same?
Secondly, national govt is too big. Again, why ask for more of something that you already have too much of, and which is also so so wasteful.
Therefore if the UK government was seen to be less intrusive, more productive and relevant, and above all smaller, both the headspace and the will might exist to consider a European dimension.
Reduce the layers of govt, the number of MP's, the level of tax and the level of force-fed legislation and you might just restore the appetite and the sheer capacity to consider the European dimension to our lives. If not, forget it. There are already to many of you and too many of you doing nothing useful.

Mark Stallard, Cardiff,

"So Tony Blair is right to demand a rethink about what Europe is for and to reorientate its spending and policy priorities accordingly." Just a minute, hasn't Tony Blair just announced he supports the constitution being renamed a 'Treaty' to smuggle through the vast of majority of the constitution rejected by the French and Dutch?

Your sentiments on reforming the EU are completely over optimistic given the Left Wing bias of the majority of bureaucrats that hold the real power within the EU. The EU is where it is today, over-centralised and bureaucratically top heavy as a direct result of this bias. The structure of the EU closely matches the ideal centralist, modern left-wing model of many of its members’ national governments.

The bias is institutionalised and unlikely to change in the future. Britain should hold a referendum on its preferred relationship with a club whose membership rules and de-facto purpose has changed beyond recognition to the one we joined over 30 years ago.

Edwin Thornber, Bucharest, Romania