Ten Things you might not know about the EU

1. Charles Kennedy says there is no case for holding back on the EU

Europe is not considered to be a vote winner on the doorstep so campaigners often hold back on the subject. Kennedy thinks that this is a big mistake as people often respect a principled commitment. (For full article see the LDEG Autumn 2006 newsletter.)

2. Any British citizen under 33 has always been a European citizen too

When I was little, Europe was somewhere else, somewhere over the sea. But since 1st January 1973 the UK has been part of the EU, like it or not, and almost all EU decisions have been agreed by us.

3. The EU Commission only has approx 26,000 workers.

Policies that are decided upon in Brussels are implemented by national governments. 80% of the EU budget is controlled by member states too (including the CAP).

4. The EU operates under the principle of subsidiarity

Europe is not about centralised political power but operates under the principle of subsidiarity, which means that policies should be made and implemented at the lowest possible level - local community, regional, national or European.

The commission should not draft policies that are not needed at a supra-national level. National parliaments need to scrutinize this and have the power to do so.

5. Whitehall sometimes "gold-plates" EU policies

It's well known that Whitehall has often "gold-plated" (i.e. added its own policies) to EU policies when implementing them. Europe then gets the blame. A directive known as "maximum harmonisation" has been introduced to try to prevent this.

6. CAP "single farm payments" are still in a state of chaos in England due to our government's IT system

The CAP was established in order to deal with post WWII food shortages but became a victim of its own success. In 2003 the radical CAP reform broke the link between subsidies and production with a single farm payment in order to emphasize the environment, food quality and sustainable farming.

Unfortunately the UK IT system to deal with the new payment is causing delays to English (not Scottish or Welsh) farmers many of whom have still not received vital payments. Once again the EU gets blamed.

The percentage of the EU budget devoted to agriculture is gradually reducing. Currently around 40% of the EU budget goes on agriculture.

7. France and Germany donate over 1billion euros each per year to the UK rebate

The press often concentrate on how we are giving money to other countries. In actual fact the EU is not redistributive except for CAP and rebates.

8. The EU could take the central role in helping the world to combat climate change.

The EU has an important role to play in global and international issues. Most of the UK reforms to combat climate change have been due to the EU. This is one occasion when government likes to take credit.

9. Monnet's vision of Europe was peace not commerce

"To unify Europe is to make peace" - JM 1950

Jean Monnet is often regarded as the founding father of Europe. After World War Two he had a vision of a stable Europe with no more wars. Since the initial European community beginnings in 1951 there have been no inter-state wars within the EC area. Maybe we shouldn't take that for granted.

10. New applicants must meet the "acquis communautaire" before being accepted.

New applicants must fulfil certain criteria before being allowed entry.

These are known as the "acquis communitaire". There may also be post accession conditions.

Carol Weaver (November 2006)